ScottishMaid

I looked at the 2023 cruise. Zaandam is an R class ship and can take 1432 passengers. Nice size and great promenade deck. Inside and outside cabins are spacious. But no Tamarind restaurant. Maybe HAL thought there would be a rush of people in 2022 then much less interest for 2023.

The Nieuw Statendam currently sailing to Greenland and Iceland has 1900 on board according to a passenger.

Sorry about that. Please try again and let me know if it doesn't get through. Do you still have the same email address as 2 years ago? I presume so if you got my email.

Hi Tim, Looking forward to your reports as we considered doing this cruise. But be very careful. Friends on the current Zaandam Voyage of the Vikings caught Covid within the first week and their 5 day quarantine caused them to miss 4 ports (Iceland and Norway). There's been quite a bit of Covid on that ship and now the Captain is requiring masks be worn. Hope you stay healthy! Jill

see post #86

From this blog from a friend on board there are 200 cases on a ship with around 1200 passengers. Read postings for July 17-19 and July 20-22. He is fully vaccinated and this is their first cruise since the world cruise 2020 terminated in Perth. https://gdjmtravels.blogspot.com/?fbclid=IwAR1A-3e8MljTT_WEa8AdmywQc3R8Q9qU4ZZ8TSyN28auPq_2KXgJwQJNIr0

On the NA in May my husband took dark pants and a blue and a white/blue stripe button up shirt and one tie. No jacket. Fine for Dressy Night and the Pinnacle but he was cold some nights without a jacket. I took dark pants and two or three nice blouses.

We got off the NA on 15th May so probably the same cruise consultant. We dropped the form in the box and were concerned not to have confirmation before we left the ship. However the 4 FCD were charged to my credit card and email confirmation arrived from HAL within 24 hours. So I guess she is overwhelmed with applications.

Did you board 1st May in Vancouver? we were on that cruise to Whittier and the weather was spectacular north of rainy Ketchikan. So much snow and sunshine. I wished we were staying in Alaska for the summer.

Open on sea days 12-1 on Nieuw Amsterdam. Plenty of room but book earlier in day for 12 if you want a window seat and arrive at 12. One day we went at 12:55 and asked if we could have lunch. Manager looked at his watch and said yes. The second time we went maybe half a dozen tables were filled at 12 and no one came later.

On the Navigator App looking at your account you can see at the end the refundable and non refundable amounts listed separately. You can check frequently when aboard that expenses are being correctly subtracted. Note the On Deck Walk for a Cause is for Ukraine just now rather than cancer. If you donate to this the money comes out of the non refundable amount. You don’t have to walk.

Several years back it was at the very far left hand end of the terminal as you enter from the parking structure or rail.

We were on the NA 26 April till 15 May. We did not get Covid although only about 10-15% of the guests were masked by the third cruise. We kept our masks on especially walking around the Lido and we found the emptiest area to eat. The Pinnacle and Tamarind at 5 pm were quiet and the Pinnacle at lunch time. We gave up on the dining room as although we changed tables more than once we didn't feel sufficiently distanced. In all three places the managers were very good at finding the best quiet distanced table if requested. There was plenty of room in the show lounge. We didn't go on any shore excursions except the short ride to Mendenhall Glacier. Although people were supposed to be masked on tour buses there was no compliance. We were amazed at how many people were unmasked at all times and happily ate meals with strangers and crowded into elevators and BB Kings. There were 1200 on a ship of 2100 capacity and we were very glad the ship was not full. So it was a different cruise for us but we have been to Alaska many times. Glacier Bay, College Fjord and Whittier to Anchorage airport were spectacular with the sun and low lying snow.

We are on the Nieuw Amsterdam which has a capacity for about 2100 passengers. There are 1200 on this cruise, 650 on the last one and 550 on the Coastal before that and 800 on the next cruise. It is fully staffed at 850 crew and the dining places are open the usual times and days. The food choices were as usual so there must have been a wastage of food. There is a string quartet and the dancers are doing 3 shows per week. It was amazing sailing with more crew than passengers. We always like the small ships so this thread is eye opening. I can only think the NA was the first ship back whereas the Zaandam is one of the last.

Skagway was beautiful. Today the Nieuw Amsterdam was in Glacier Bay. For me the best weather of about 8 visits. Blue sky all day and the peaks totally clear with so much snow still on the lower slopes. Going north this evening towards Whittier and the west side of the high peaks can be seen clearly. Narrated cruising of College Fjord tomorrow evening.

On the ship. Beautiful all day. Some locals in shorts and tourists in tank tops. M akes up for heavy rain all day yesterday in Ketchikan. This is the first northbound trip to Whittier with people continuing to Denali. Last week was a 7 day round trip from Vancouver so different port order.