Anyone just off the Zaandam in South America?

[crystalspin]

HOW WAS IT???!!!!

 

We sail the same itinerary in 13 days. I want to know EVERYTHING!!! :eek:

[trixiee]

Me too! Though we're 40-ish days out! :)

[cruising cockroach]

Got off in Valparaiso just over 3 weeks ago from the repo from Vancouver. Went to Easter Island and the Sacred Valley of Peru after that independently.

[crystalspin]

@ trixiee

cbarb4 has posted a LOT to our Nov24 Rollcall on the first cruise of our itinerary. Here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44729558&postcount=158

and here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44735564&postcount=165

and a little here, about formal nights:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44735686&postcount=166

 

@ cruising cockroach

That was a long haul! One person has posted a not entirely favorable review of your cruise, here:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=264880

 

Wonder how you felt about ship and service?

[trixiee]

Great links!mthanks Crystalspin!

Ooph! That review is scary! Hope some of those issues get fixed!

[cruising cockroach]

I kept my dining in the buffet (a.k.a. Lido) to a minimum. 3x maybe? What was said about the drinks serving was true. The flow of the buffet sucks. May have worked for when trays were used but not with plates.

 

Agreed that an in-room fridge (was in the same category) as would a LCD tv but HAL is too cheap.

 

Entertainment is weak but I wasn't there for that so it wasn't a big factor for me. A lot of 2nd-rate acts, true.

 

The S-S laundry (dryer) ruined some of my clothing. What I paid was too paltry to turn into HAL for comp as I needed it for my after-cruise trip (only had 4 pairs of pants).

 

The two guest lecturers were terrible.

 

No port of call info person until the very last two ports (and one of them was the disembarkation one for us). No maps, no information, no nothing.

[dockman]

@ trixiee

cbarb4 has posted a LOT to our Nov24 Rollcall on the first cruise of our itinerary. Here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44729558&postcount=158

and here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44735564&postcount=165

and a little here, about formal nights:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44735686&postcount=166

 

@ cruising cockroach

That was a long haul! One person has posted a not entirely favorable review of your cruise, here:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=264880

 

Wonder how you felt about ship and service?

 

That was my review....didn't mean to make it sound totally horrible as it wasn't...but as stated I have been on a lot of cruises and it just irritates me to see an obvious lack of attention to the smaller details... lack of maintenance and apparent oblivious attitude of management does tend to become more and more obvious with Holland since the CCL takeover....but all said I still prefer Holland to many of the other brands...mostly because of the Indonesian/Fillipino staff........

[RuthC]

...apparent oblivious attitude of management does tend to become more and more obvious with Holland since the CCL takeover....

You DO know how long ago it was that Carnival Corp. took over Holland America, don't you?

We're close to 25 years now.

Edited November 16, 2014 by RuthC

[dockman]

You DO know how long ago it was that Carnival Corp. took over Holland America, don't you?

We're close to 25 years now.

 

wow didn't realize it was that long ago...but sure seems to me in about the last ten years the bean counters have been on a cut cut cut mission.....stewards cleaning more rooms than ever and overall just a lowering of standards....even though CCL is last 25 years Holland America has been around since the 1870's or so.....

 

I remember sailing on Holland in the early 1970's when Heineken beer was proudly sold for 25 cents.

 

Of course all the cruise lines look to make more profit which is normal...but I do think some of the decisions may be short sighted if they drive away long time customers and have to spend the money to continually try and find new customers to replace them...I have heard more grumbling from 4 star mariners in the past year or two than ever before...not a good sign....

[trixiee]

Dock man, thank you for your honest review. I appreciate it. I'm not too worried about some of the downfalls, as they wouldn't affect me too much. We're early to bed kind of people, and we don't regularly partake of the buffet, don't go to the port talks often, so most of the shortcomings I won't notice.

[Appygirl]

Dockman's review was accurate. The staff on the Zaandam are very good, always smiling, very polite, helpful. With the exception of 2 women in the food & beverage service. We had nicknames for both. B!tchy worked in the Lido slinging food. And slinging is correct. She'd sling it in your face if she could get away with it I'm sure. The other one works in the beverage service and appears to be a senior employee. We called her The Scowler. I was in the pool, roof open, and it was very windy and a bottle of beer rolled off the table and crashed on the tile. I could smell it all the way from the pool. I've never seen anyone carry on over the death of a bottle of beer the way she did. You'd have thought her pay was going to be docked for a year! That little act she put on was more entertaining than some of the lecturers!

 

Dining room service for dinner is slow, due to cutbacks I guess, and food usually arrived cold to barely warm. The food would have been pretty good if it had actually arrived at the temperature it should have been eaten at.

 

The Zaandam is the only cruise I've been on where passengers cornered the dining room manager and reemed him out over the long waits and the cold food. I heard that screaming go on for over 10 minutes. I think it could have been handled a little more professionally and quietly but I can see how people get ticked when they're paying good money for a cruise expecting good food and service similar to the rest of the HAL fleet, and the Zaandam doesn't cut it. One night the dining room manager brought around complimentary champagne and apologies due to the slow service resulting in the cold food. Took too long to get to our table and we left. After 3 nights of dining room service getting progressively worse, we took our chances with B!tchy and ate our dinners in the Lido where the food was served at the right temperature.

 

I'm not sure why the Zaandam can't get their act together in the food services area. The rest of HAL can get it right, why not the Zaandam. I've never been on a cruise where the food & beverage staff when not dealing with passengers, gathered in little groups and spoke angrily in their native language. After an unpleasant encounter with the hotel manager, I think I have a big clue why the food & beverage staff are unhappy.

 

The Zaandam has great destinations. When cruising the Zaandam, its all about the destination. Not the food.

[CowPrincess]

Dockman's review was accurate. The staff on the Zaandam are very good, always smiling, very polite, helpful. With the exception of 2 women in the food & beverage service. We had nicknames for both. B!tchy worked in the Lido slinging food. And slinging is correct. She'd sling it in your face if she could get away with it I'm sure. The other one works in the beverage service and appears to be a senior employee. We called her The Scowler. I was in the pool, roof open, and it was very windy and a bottle of beer rolled off the table and crashed on the tile. I could smell it all the way from the pool. I've never seen anyone carry on over the death of a bottle of beer the way she did. You'd have thought her pay was going to be docked for a year! That little act she put on was more entertaining than some of the lecturers!

 

Dining room service for dinner is slow, due to cutbacks I guess, and food usually arrived cold to barely warm. The food would have been pretty good if it had actually arrived at the temperature it should have been eaten at.

 

The Zaandam is the only cruise I've been on where passengers cornered the dining room manager and reemed him out over the long waits and the cold food. I heard that screaming go on for over 10 minutes. I think it could have been handled a little more professionally and quietly but I can see how people get ticked when they're paying good money for a cruise expecting good food and service similar to the rest of the HAL fleet, and the Zaandam doesn't cut it. One night the dining room manager brought around complimentary champagne and apologies due to the slow service resulting in the cold food. Took too long to get to our table and we left. After 3 nights of dining room service getting progressively worse, we took our chances with B!tchy and ate our dinners in the Lido where the food was served at the right temperature.

 

I'm not sure why the Zaandam can't get their act together in the food services area. The rest of HAL can get it right, why not the Zaandam. I've never been on a cruise where the food & beverage staff when not dealing with passengers, gathered in little groups and spoke angrily in their native language. After an unpleasant encounter with the hotel manager, I think I have a big clue why the food & beverage staff are unhappy.

 

The Zaandam has great destinations. When cruising the Zaandam, its all about the destination. Not the food.

 

When was this?

[kazu]

Dockman's review was accurate. The staff on the Zaandam are very good, always smiling, very polite, helpful. With the exception of 2 women in the food & beverage service. We had nicknames for both. B!tchy worked in the Lido slinging food. And slinging is correct. She'd sling it in your face if she could get away with it I'm sure. The other one works in the beverage service and appears to be a senior employee. We called her The Scowler. I was in the pool, roof open, and it was very windy and a bottle of beer rolled off the table and crashed on the tile. I could smell it all the way from the pool. I've never seen anyone carry on over the death of a bottle of beer the way she did. You'd have thought her pay was going to be docked for a year! That little act she put on was more entertaining than some of the lecturers!

 

Dining room service for dinner is slow, due to cutbacks I guess, and food usually arrived cold to barely warm. The food would have been pretty good if it had actually arrived at the temperature it should have been eaten at.

 

The Zaandam is the only cruise I've been on where passengers cornered the dining room manager and reemed him out over the long waits and the cold food. I heard that screaming go on for over 10 minutes. I think it could have been handled a little more professionally and quietly but I can see how people get ticked when they're paying good money for a cruise expecting good food and service similar to the rest of the HAL fleet, and the Zaandam doesn't cut it. One night the dining room manager brought around complimentary champagne and apologies due to the slow service resulting in the cold food. Took too long to get to our table and we left. After 3 nights of dining room service getting progressively worse, we took our chances with B!tchy and ate our dinners in the Lido where the food was served at the right temperature.

 

I'm not sure why the Zaandam can't get their act together in the food services area. The rest of HAL can get it right, why not the Zaandam. I've never been on a cruise where the food & beverage staff when not dealing with passengers, gathered in little groups and spoke angrily in their native language. After an unpleasant encounter with the hotel manager, I think I have a big clue why the food & beverage staff are unhappy.

 

The Zaandam has great destinations. When cruising the Zaandam, its all about the destination. Not the food.

 

I know my memory is short but it seems to me that your cruise on the Zaandam was a while ago? Quite a while ago? Things do change from week to week for sure and definitely from year to year.

 

could you clarify please when this was? I am sure it would be helpful to the OP and others ;)

[CowPrincess]

When was this?

 

I know my memory is short but it seems to me that your cruise on the Zaandam was a while ago? Quite a while ago? Things do change from week to week for sure and definitely from year to year.

 

could you clarify please when this was? I am sure it would be helpful to the OP and others ;)

 

Appy girl, no need to answer my question. To save you the trouble I looked and found your report. October 2012.

[trixiee]

Appy girl, no need to answer my question. To save you the trouble I looked and found your report. October 2012.

 

Whew!

[CowPrincess]

deleted.... sorry ..... can't get the big green smiling emoticon to show up for me

Edited November 17, 2014 by CowPrincess

[crystalspin]

There were about equal positive:negative reports on the Norwegian Star before our Canal cruise a year ago. We went with an open mind and had a great if not pampered time. In our first balcony (for the price on an inside on HAL).

 

Cruise ships are not fairy tale castles, they're floating hotels. I've stayed in all level of hotels! and motels!

 

It's actually amusing that the reviews are about equally divided between those that say the MDR was so bad I ate in the Lido, and those that say the buffet is so bad we stuck to the main. Guess we will have to try them both!

 

Also taking $1 bills for room service tips and scoping places ashore to eat local.

 

I intend to have a great time, which increases the chances that I will.

[TiogaCruiser]

The HAL Blog has some info on your Expedition Team found here:

 

http://www.hollandamericablog.com/2014/09/26/on-location-antarctica-cruises-led-by-world-renowned-expedition-team/

 

We had Dr. Breshnahan and Dr. Chris Wilson (and his brother Dr. Edward Wilson) for our trip in 2013. They were excellent and very available for questions. Chris held "court" on the aft deck of the Lido and Lower Promenade deck for those who wanted to bird watch. Most of the day. They even had spotting scopes set up and he had several followers.

 

Chris and Edward shared commentary with the other Expedition Team member while we were in Antarctica. It was like being on an all day shore excursion. (The video I posted for you several months ago on a different thread has some of Chris' and Captain Bos' commentary in it.)

 

I would go again on this trip in a heartbeat. (Even if it meant sleeping in a hammock.:D It was THAT good. (RuthC was sooooo right.)

[cruising cockroach]

FWIW, had late fixed dining in the rear of the MDR (so top floor). Lots of empty/3/4-half empty tables around us so no problem with food being served warmed most of the time. Lido was always buzzing but our least-favourite place to eat (chaotic, crowded, poorly-organised for flow). Only had lunch there 2x because the MDR was closed, and tried breakfast once and never went back.