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Just returned from the Zaandam to Antarctica with kids

boulders

By boulders,
in Holland America Line

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boulders

boulders

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I have just posted a review, but it's not up yet. I'll post some highlights (and low lights) from our cruise.

 

The great:

 

Antarctica - we had some wonderful weather. Much better than the minus 28 Celsius at home. It was a little warmer than freezing, but the sun made it feel very warm.

 

Penguins, penguins, penguins - We saw penguins in 3 places - Volunteer Point in the Falklands, floating past on an iceberg in Antarctica, and Magdalena Island near Punta Arenas. My favourite, maybe because it was the first, was Volunteer Point. I consider this a must do for future travellers. I loved the King penguins.

 

Expert Talks on board - I was not expecting this as the Zaandam is a mainstream cruise ship. We had 3 experts on board and there were maybe 20-30 lectures in total. They were very interesting and worth the price of admission.

 

Fellow cruisers - Most cruisers were aged 50-70, although there were about 40 under 18's and smatterings of people in all age groups. It was truly an international cruise. About 50% from the U.S., 10% Canadian, 10% Russian, 10% Aussies and Kiwis, 10% European, 10% South American

 

The good

 

The ship was in good shape. Carpet was new.

 

Entertainment. There was a wide variety of activities, including Dancing with the Stars. There were quite a few "On Location" shows with dancing/singing from the various countries visited.

 

The bad

 

Our Neptune Suite, 7022, was very noisy. It sounded like we were under a bowling alley at times.

 

The food (sometimes). The descriptions of the food often didn't match what was delivered. Lettuce wraps were not wrapped in lettuce. Lobster thermidor had one identifiable piece of lobster, one quarter inch around. Don't think of ordering the Black Forest Cake if you expect something that: a) has chocolate, b) is cake c) has cherries. Stay away from the pies too.

 

 

 

Overall, we had a fabulous time. It was truly the trip of a lifetime. I travelled with ds18, dd15, and ds8. Everyone had a great time and did not want it to end.

 

If you have any questions about the ship/itinerary/ports of call, just ask. I'll post the link to the review when it's up.

Edited by boulders
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canadianbear

canadianbear

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Thanks for the "mini" review.....will you post a link when your review is on?

 

Our family would love to do that trip-such a long flight to get there though which has kept me away so far. Shame about the noise at times from above your suite and what seems like cutbacks on the food. The one time I had lobster thermidor I fell in love with it-sad to think they have scaled that back too.

 

(We love the new carpets on the Zaandam-we were on her when they were installing them our whole trip:eek: but all passengers were compensated for that fiasco).

 

Glad you saw so many penguins. Happy too that your kids enjoyed it and didn't want to leave.

 

Looking forward to your full review. Welcome back!

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SilvertoGold

SilvertoGold

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Thanks for the mini-review. Looking forward to the whole thing.

 

I had to laugh at your food descriptions: been there, done that and thought exactly the same!

 

Glad you saw some penguins! Did you go the Hope bay? Thousands there, in the water and on land!

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idiebabe

idiebabe

Posted
Posted
I have just posted a review, but it's not up yet. I'll post some highlights (and low lights) from our cruise.

 

The great:

 

Antarctica - we had some wonderful weather. Much better than the minus 28 Celsius at home. It was a little warmer than freezing, but the sun made it feel very warm.

 

Penguins, penguins, penguins - We saw penguins in 3 places - Volunteer Point in the Falklands, floating past on an iceberg in Antarctica, and Magdalena Island near Punta Arenas. My favourite, maybe because it was the first, was Volunteer Point. I consider this a must do for future travellers. I loved the King penguins.

 

Expert Talks on board - I was not expecting this as the Zaandam is a mainstream cruise ship. We had 3 experts on board and there were maybe 20-30 lectures in total. They were very interesting and worth the price of admission.

 

Fellow cruisers - Most cruisers were aged 50-70, although there were about 40 under 18's and smatterings of people in all age groups. It was truly an international cruise. About 50% from the U.S., 10% Canadian, 10% Russian, 10% Aussies and Kiwis, 10% European, 10% South American

 

The good

 

The ship was in good shape. Carpet was new.

 

Entertainment. There was a wide variety of activities, including Dancing with the Stars. There were quite a few "On Location" shows with dancing/singing from the various countries visited.

 

The bad

 

Our Neptune Suite, 7022, was very noisy. It sounded like we were under a bowling alley at times.

 

The food (sometimes). The descriptions of the food often didn't match what was delivered. Lettuce wraps were not wrapped in lettuce. Lobster thermidor had one identifiable piece of lobster, one quarter inch around. Don't think of ordering the Black Forest Cake if you expect something that: a) has chocolate, b) is cake c) has cherries. Stay away from the pies too.

 

 

 

Overall, we had a fabulous time. It was truly the trip of a lifetime. I travelled with ds18, dd15, and ds8. Everyone had a great time and did not want it to end.

 

If you have any questions about the ship/itinerary/ports of call, just ask. I'll post the link to the review when it's up.

 

Looking forward to your review! We're doing the 13 Nite from BA to Valparaiso in March.

 

Were you scheduled for Falklands? Our Itinerary is showing "Weather Permitting" and have Puerto Madryn right now as the Port of Call. Did you go to Volunteer Point through the Ship or a private excursion? Also, how bumpy was it?

 

Also, did you take the Ferry to Magdalena Island or the Speed Boat?

 

Looking forward to hearing about what you did in all the Ports!

 

Thank you!

 

Eileen

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boulders

boulders

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it's something, isn't it?

 

Did you make all ports? Volunteer Point is really something, I agree. So glad you made it over there. Where there still alot of baby chicks?

 

We did make all ports. I really thought we wouldn't get to Ushuaia as the weather forecast was very poor the night before. There were a lot of baby chicks, but they were moulting - were these last year's babies?

 

Looking forward to your review! We're doing the 13 Nite from BA to Valparaiso in March.

 

Were you scheduled for Falklands? Our Itinerary is showing "Weather Permitting" and have Puerto Madryn right now as the Port of Call. Did you go to Volunteer Point through the Ship or a private excursion? Also, how bumpy was it?

 

Also, did you take the Ferry to Magdalena Island or the Speed Boat?

 

Looking forward to hearing about what you did in all the Ports!

 

Thank you!

 

Eileen

 

We had the same "weather permitting" on our itinerary. Four days before sailing, I was emailed that the Falklands was on. So, Saturday before a Wednesday sailing. They opened up the shore excursions a few hours after that. We took Estancia Excursions and they were great. The cost was 110 GBP vs $349 USD for the ship's excursion. The ship's excursion quickly sold out, not sure how quickly, but the tickets were gone by day 2 of the cruise. There were people on the dock begging Estancia to take them. Bumpy? It was an E ticket ride. We had a very comfortable vehicle, but some people were in the jump seats in the back of a Land Rover. We got lucky. The ride was half the fun.

 

For Magdalena Island, we took the ferry. I had heard the speedboat could be bumpy. We were lucky here too and the waters were calm. Normally, they have 60 mph winds at Punta Arenas. DS8 backed out and stayed in the kids club, so the $30 extra per person wouldn't have been so bad. We only got an hour on the island, which was sufficient, but the 2 hours both ways on the ferry was tiresome. We went to the Falklands first, and Volunteer Point was much better imo, but that could have been because we were there first.

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boulders

boulders

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Who were your experts?

 

We had the (Dr.) Wilson Brothers and Dr. Dave Breshnahan(sp?).

 

I still don't understand why HAL doesn't advertise that they are having expert speakers. It certainly a drawing card for me.

 

We had Chris Wilson, Dave Bresnahan and Guy Guthridge. Chris spoke on birds, Dave spoke on logistics and Guy spoke more about general science topics, e.g. ice.

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mike7649

mike7649

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Thank you for the high & low lights. They are very helpful as we too will be on the Zaandam doing that same cruise on Jan 29. We are hopeful to also visit the Falkland Islands and have tentatively booked a tour to Volunteer Point.

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idiebabe

idiebabe

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We had the same "weather permitting" on our itinerary. Four days before sailing, I was emailed that the Falklands was on. So, Saturday before a Wednesday sailing. They opened up the shore excursions a few hours after that. We took Estancia Excursions and they were great. The cost was 110 GBP vs $349 USD for the ship's excursion. The ship's excursion quickly sold out, not sure how quickly, but the tickets were gone by day 2 of the cruise. There were people on the dock begging Estancia to take them. Bumpy? It was an E ticket ride. We had a very comfortable vehicle, but some people were in the jump seats in the back of a Land Rover. We got lucky. The ride was half the fun.

 

For Magdalena Island, we took the ferry. I had heard the speedboat could be bumpy. We were lucky here too and the waters were calm. Normally, they have 60 mph winds at Punta Arenas. DS8 backed out and stayed in the kids club, so the $30 extra per person wouldn't have been so bad. We only got an hour on the island, which was sufficient, but the 2 hours both ways on the ferry was tiresome. We went to the Falklands first, and Volunteer Point was much better imo, but that could have been because we were there first.

 

Thank you for the info! Really hoping we make it to Falklands, too!

 

Can't wait for the rest of your review! :):):)

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boulders

boulders

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Thank you for the info! Really hoping we make it to Falklands, too!

 

Can't wait for the rest of your review! :):):)

 

You're welcome! By the Friday night before the cruise, I was so sure we weren't going to make the Falklands that I almost emailed Estancia to cancel.

 

By the way, in the past, Patrick Watts has been recommended on these boards for the Falklands. Apparently, he is no longer doing excursions.

 

Estancia was very professional. There were about 40 vehicles total at Volunteer Point, including the ship's excursions, so only about 200 people were there. About 12-16 vehicles were Estancia's. All the vehicles at Volunteer Point were Land Rovers or similar.

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