Binoculars on Zaandam

[jwh]

I was pleased to read about enhancements on HAL effective Jan 2016. In particular binoculars in Balcony cabins, but have read another post on enhancements which suggests this announcement may in fact not be relevant for all ships from beginning of 2016 as suggested. Their website for this sailing clearly states that binoculars, robes etc are standard in the cabins from 2016, however previous posts make me wonder if this is indeed correct now.

 

If anyone is currently on Zaandam, and has a minute to ask the front desk, I would be so pleased to know in advance if binoculars in particular are available for loan in the cabins on this South America/Antarctica cruise. Sure will make the luggage bit lighter if we don't need to bring our own :)

 

Many thanks, and a very happy Christmas and new year to you all.

[donaldsc]

If they are loaning you binoculars for free or even if they are not free, you can be sure that they are totally crap. Good binoculars cost several hundred dollars. Do you think that the ship will give you good ones. They probably out to some wholesaler and ask for bids on binoculars with a total cost per of no more than $25.

 

Bring your own.

 

DON

[Loreto]

We had binoculars a number of years ago on our what is now a Neptune Suite. They were heavy and awkward as I recall. We were on the Holiday Antarctic cruise on the Zaandam in Dec. 2013. Fantastic itinerary...probably our favorite cruise. We took a small pair of binoculars...not terribly expensive but perfect for viewing the chinstrap penguins we saw by the hundreds in Antarctica.

 

Have a great cruise....we loved the Zaandam!:)

 

Karen

[Savoyard]

We just cruised with Celebrity, which puts binoculars in Concierge Class (premium balcony cabins) and above. I wasn't expecting much, but I was still startled by how small and light they were. They were ultra-compact (10x25 if you know the lingo) and weighed about half as much as my (small) cell phone. Neither of us could see more than a pinpoint of light when we looked through them.

 

Amazon has a similar pair for $16.99 retail; buying in bulk, Celebrity probably paid well under $10 a copy, maybe closer to $5. If HAL is putting binocs in every balcony cabin, I'll bet they're similar to what we saw.

 

Interestingly, they had disappeared from our cabin by the last morning. I wonder if Celebrity collects them to avoid theft. We could have walked off with them and Celebrity would still have come out ahead, considering the extra fare we paid above standard balcony rates and the low value of the Concierge Class perks. But no way did we want them; we had our own Nikons.

[Tom O.]

We always bring our own binoculars while cruising. My wife and I are birders and we both have a pair of quality binoculars. I would not use a pair of cheap binoculars.

We use them for looking at birds, whales, dolphins, etc. They are also useful for watching the activities on shore while in port.