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Zaandam Video Tour

shack

By shack,
in Holland America Line

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shack

shack

Posted
Posted

Ran across this well-produced video tour of Zaandam ahead of cruising on her next month.  No narration, but clear video.

 

Fitness center looks impressive; thermal suite not so much.

 

 

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EatonDoolittle

EatonDoolittle

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How timely - over on the Celebrity board there is currently a thread about whether or not vloggers/ content creators / YouTubers have any value, and if they are intrusive on ships. 

 

Varying opinions, and a fun read. 

However, I'll keep my opinion of them to myself. 

 

 

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OlsSalt

OlsSalt

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Absolutely HAL's best contribution to the cruise world - the R class ships.

 

Perfection, classics, they got everything right in the R-class ships. How I love their libraries. Hope everyone can sail them whenever and wherever you can, because they will soon become part of cruise travel history for HAL.  Already lost sister ships Amsterdam and Rotterdam to Fred Olson cruise lines.

 

Only one thing I would change - the sight lines in the small multi-use theater for culinary and movie events. But I don't think that room was designed originally for those types of events in the first place. 

 

A good deal of group sleuthing on a thread a while back uncovered the name of the beloved Dutch ceramics artist, whose works are found throughout the R-class ships. His Zaandam contribution are the whimsical cows lounging at the aft-deck pool. 

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Moriah

Moriah

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Oh, thanks for this!  I've been on over 40 HAL cruises, but next month (May 6) I board the Zaandam for the very first time! I'm so excited.  I took a look at recent reviews and they were not stellar, but then I saw your post and watched the video, and well, I just KNOW it's going to be amazing.  I will be so upset when the small ships are completely gone... I really miss Maasdam and Amsterdam... The Zaandam itinerary I'm on in a few weeks is one I've done twice on Maasdam.  So the Z has a hard act to follow!

Edited by Moriah
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Loreto

Loreto

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Ironically the Vista Suite in the video, 7036, was our stateroom Feb.18,2023  to March 18, 2023  for a 28 day back to back Panama Canal cruise.  The Zaandam is a beautiful ship, but my carefully chosen room I would not recommend!  The lido has rolling carts which were constantly rolling during meal hours.  We go used to it🙁.  Fortunately it stopped by 9 pm and didn't seem to be a problem during breakfast hours.  The room was quiet at night.  We also had an air conditioning problem at night with the room getting a little to warm.  It was fixed 3 days before disembarkation.  There was a problem elsewhere on the ship...Showroom, Lido restaurant.  We were given an apology and $250 in shipboard credit, when all we really wanted was cold air at night.  There is now a flat screen TV on the wall.  The water was hot and the toilet flushed🙂 but beware of 7036 and the rolling thunder of the Lido carts!

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OlsSalt

OlsSalt

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Panama Canal gets you  close to the equator - that is when these older ship A/C systems do get stressed.  Which is why it can appear to "get fixed" a few days later once back in a more temperate zone.

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Loreto

Loreto

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3 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Panama Canal gets you  close to the equator - that is when these older ship A/C systems do get stressed.  Which is why it can appear to "get fixed" a few days later once back in a more temperate zone.

I know!  That was the excuse I got, but in the end there was a problem that got fixed.  We were on the Amazon Explorer on the Prinsendam and Volendam without a problem.  If Holland wants to keep 2 smaller ships they should invest in a new system.  We love the Zaandam, just not at night!

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OlsSalt

OlsSalt

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1 hour ago, Loreto said:

I know!  That was the excuse I got, but in the end there was a problem that got fixed.  We were on the Amazon Explorer on the Prinsendam and Volendam without a problem.  If Holland wants to keep 2 smaller ships they should invest in a new system.  We love the Zaandam, just not at night!

 

One of the other problems on the older ships is the linked ventilation systems when someone leaves their balcony door open "to get more cool night  air", it sucks the cooling system air out of all the other cabins on the same circuit, which may not even be next to each other or on the same floor.

 

That is also another way the A/C problems "get fixed". They track down the open balcony door culprit and make sure they know to keep it closed.

 

Also, the cabin temperature range standards go up to 75 degrees as "normal", which may not feel like a guarantee of "cool air" when the outside weather swelters. 

 

Some times it just is, on these older ships which were designed when passengers followed the rules better and did not muck up either the plumbing systems tossing down things on the prohibited list,  nor ignore the balcony door warnings about keeping them closed.

 

So any time there are cabin temperature complaints, it becomes a swirl of competing causes and solutions. 

 

You did the right thing and let them know right away, when they could still try to find a solution for you. Sometimes there is no easy solution, and it does get steamy.  One good thing about the newer ships is the HACV was very responsive. No unpleasant surprises. But maybe we did not really test it on a winter time Mexican Riviera cruise. 

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Navybikermom

Navybikermom

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I was in an ocean view on the Zaandam for a Panama Canal cruise and on the first day I raised the temp in my room because it was way too cold (it was set halfway between warm/cold). I left it that way the whole time and it was great. 

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StLouisCruisers

StLouisCruisers

Posted
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57 minutes ago, Navybikermom said:

I was in an ocean view on the Zaandam for a Panama Canal cruise and on the first day I raised the temp in my room because it was way too cold (it was set halfway between warm/cold). I left it that way the whole time and it was great. 

 

Our oceanview room on the Volendam was literally a freezer on our Amazon Explorer in Nov. - Dec. 2022.  We discussed whether or not to report it when we left Ft. Lauderdale and thought we may need this cold air in the sweltering Amazon.  The entire 28 days we had the thermostat pegged at the hottest setting possible, and asked for blankets to put on us when sitting in our room.  It was fine.  I'd rather be cold than hot.🥵

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RuthC

RuthC

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28 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

Our oceanview room on the Volendam was literally a freezer on our Amazon Explorer in Nov. - Dec. 2022. 

I NEED that cabin the next time I am on that ship. Do you mind sharing the cabin number, please? 
I promise not to hold it against you if the HVAC is 'fixed' before I get there. 

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Moriah

Moriah

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14 hours ago, RuthC said:

I NEED that cabin the next time I am on that ship. Do you mind sharing the cabin number, please? 
I promise not to hold it against you if the HVAC is 'fixed' before I get there. 

 

LOL! I was going to say the same thing! Give me that COLD cabin! 🙂  I hope next month on Zaandam I'll have a nice chilly cabin - we have an OV guarantee.  I don't mind noise, but excessive heat does me in...

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RuthC

RuthC

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3 hours ago, Moriah said:

 

LOL! I was going to say the same thing! Give me that COLD cabin! 🙂  I hope next month on Zaandam I'll have a nice chilly cabin - we have an OV guarantee.  I don't mind noise, but excessive heat does me in...

We can arm-wrestle for it. 

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StLouisCruisers

StLouisCruisers

Posted
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21 hours ago, RuthC said:

I NEED that cabin the next time I am on that ship. Do you mind sharing the cabin number, please? 
I promise not to hold it against you if the HVAC is 'fixed' before I get there. 

 

Sure, the room was 1838.  Quiet too.  Hope no one had it "fixed".

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