On board Zaandam!

[CruiserBruce]

Boarding started at 11:15. The check in and boarding was very well organized and smooth, except one odd outcome I will mention in a minute. Cabin was ready when we walked into it by 11:30.

 

Upgrading HIA SBP is allowed. Saw signs for it, but didn't do it.

 

Itinerary has been changed, at least partially due to Hurricane Lee. Eastport (just arriving as I write this) is being subbed for Portland.  Have already found a lobster roll restaurant. Sydney has been subbed for St John, but I suspect,  in the end, we will miss Sydney due to weather.

 

Ship looks in great shape! Gym opened early! Dinner was excellent last night, and even given standard first night chaos,  went well. They have a creamier Ceasars dressing I like a lot. DW's steak was perfect, and my haddock was also perfect. Appropriate serving size. Absolutely no complaints. 

 

For those that need negatives...fog horn sounded all night. Rained much of afternoon yesterday.  Warm and very humid at times. We left BOS about 30 minutes late.

 

Odd occurrence...late yesterday afternoon,  two suitcases suddenly appeared in our cabin. They were clearly marked with our cabin number, but not our bags. Someone told the dockworkers they were in our cabin? Interesting...handled quickly by our cabin stewards. 

 

Happy to answer any questions. 

[dfish]

Enjoy your cruise.  We enjoyed 32 days on the Zaandam in July and August. 

[cat shepard]

Bon Voyage, Bruce. 

[Mary229]

Have fun! I love that cruise.   While you are away I am sure the trolls here will have a field day. 

[Blackduck59]

It's too bad you have already been affected by the storm. I hope you have a safe journey and enjoy the  ship as much as we did.

[FlaMariner]

Nice start.....I look forward to your factual, actual review

 

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

For those that need negatives...

 

LOL......you know it.....LOL

 

Enjoy the journey......

[VMax1700]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

fog horn sounded all night. Rained much of afternoon yesterday.  Warm and very humid at times. We left BOS about 30 minutes late.

Disgraceful!  I hope you used Navigator to inform the front desk of your disappointment with the situation and requested an urgent meeting with the Hotel Manager 😂

What will this do for the share price? 🙄🤣

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[BetsyS.]

Bon Voyage! 🥂😊 Have a great time!

[CruiserBruce]

12 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Disgraceful!  I hope you used Navigator to inform the front desk of your disappointment with the situation and requested an urgent meeting with the Hotel Manager 😂

What will this do for the share price? 🙄🤣

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Of course, I will never cruise HAL again! I mean they schedule a cruise during a hurricane! It must mean bankruptcy is near!! 😄😄😄😄

[gknep]

Got off the Zaandam yesterday. We missed two ports (St. Anthony due to rough seas and Bar Harbor due to repairs running long in Halifax) and still had a great time. The fog horn ran almost constantly during our cruise as well. Every two minutes or so by our timing. Great ship and wonderful crew. 

[CruiserBruce]

3 minutes ago, gknep said:

Got off the Zaandam yesterday. We missed two ports (St. Anthony due to rough seas and Bar Harbor due to repairs running long in Halifax) and still had a great time. The fog horn ran almost constantly during our cruise as well. Every two minutes or so by our timing. Great ship and wonderful crew. 

Did you ever hear a cause for the repairs? I heard divers and rear thrusters. We made a 15 hour, 19 knot run to be here today, on time. 

[POA1]

47 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Disgraceful!  I hope you used Navigator to inform the front desk of your disappointment with the situation and requested an urgent meeting with the Hotel Manager 😂

What will this do for the share price? 🙄🤣

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Bruce -

 

Really looking forward to your reports. Please follow Colin's advice to report the foghorn, but remember that you can turn it off in the preferences section of the Navigator app. You can also turn off the lighthouses if they bother you. We lived in Maine for a long time and it's positively littered with those tall, beacony structures.

 

If any of the bands are taking requests, ask for the Scorpions, "Rock Me Like A Hurricane." (It's technically an oldie since it'll be 40 years since its release in 1984.)

[kazu]

Looking forward to following along with you, Bruce.

 

It’s good that Saint John is already cancelled.  Believe me, you don’t want to be anywhere near the Bay of Fundy on Saturday 😱 

 

Have a great cruise!

[CruiserBruce]

20 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Bruce -

 

Really looking forward to your reports. Please follow Colin's advice to report the foghorn, but remember that you can turn it off in the preferences section of the Navigator app. You can also turn off the lighthouses if they bother you. We lived in Maine for a long time and it's positively littered with those tall, beacony structures.

 

If any of the bands are taking requests, ask for the Scorpions, "Rock Me Like A Hurricane." (It's technically an oldie since it'll be 40 years since its release in 1984.)

No worries...our age range for music👍.

[mcrcruiser]

Hey Btuce enjoy your cruise .hope that the hurricane does not spoil too much for port stops .We did that itinerary from Bayone NJ   back in 201y on a huge Royal Carribean ship . Personally I rathwer do it on a smaller ship ,just too many people in rgwe ship ,still a nice cruise . If course the time if year is importasnt for New England /Canafa cruises. We booked Zaandam for a 10 say Mexico cruise ,so we are interested in what you discuss about the ship 

Have a pleasant journey 

Cliff

[mcrcruiser]

wanted to say 2017 was the year we cruise New England/Canada

[VennDiagram]

I'm so happy you are doing this thread @CruiserBruce  We were booked on this cruise and  canceled.  So I will be following along, to hear about everything we missed.  Thanks!

[leerathje]

Hope you have a great cruise, Bruce!  

 

L.

 

[aliaschief]

Bruce, Thanks for sharing your cruise experience. Bruce

[3rdGenCunarder]

Well, there's an advantage of an aft cabin I hadn't thought about--foghorn isn't too loud. 

 

I hope you are able to get to Sydney. I missed it last year because Fiona had slammed through a few days before we were due to dock there. It was a mess and the last thing they needed was a few thousand extra people!

 

Enjoy the cruise, with or without some of the ports. And if you miss ports and want to sue HAL, I hear Dewey, Cheathem & Howe is a good firm.

[CruiserBruce]

Just got back from an hour stroll around Eastport. "A small fishing village" is a brief, accurate description. Having 1200 pax here about doubles the population. They get a few small cruises to visit, but I doubt any bigger than Zaandam, as the pier is barely fitting Zaandam. With last minute switch, we saw only two tours. Otherwise, not much else to see except "quaint- ness". Some small shops and restaurants. 

 

Been cloudy/foggy all day, with a number of showers. But dry since 1pm. Hurricane Lee continues to promise some excitement probably by Saturday night, maybe lasting into Monday. Monday is a tender port at Corner Brook. Not optimistic. 

 

Lunch in Lido was very good...seafood paella. Love paella!

 

Tonight is a dressy night.

 

The problem with drink plans...they require repeated and comprehensive exercise. Off to keep our drink plan fit.

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Sorry the weather isn't cooperating. Not sure if you have heard of this website, but it comes in very handy for me when we're on a cruise. You can also download the app, but I just use the website link. Just put the city you're curious about anywhere in the world in the upper lefthand corner box. You can of course also expand the screen outward to get a bigger picture associated with the surrounding area. I also get more options when using my iPad rather than my iPhone. In any event have a great cruise!

 

https://www.windy.com/

 

[Blackduck59]

It's interesting that you are tendering in Cornerbrook, we were alongside there. If you do make it ashore there I highly recommend seeing if you can get a cab to drive you around. We had one who gave us an hour for $90.00 CDN we saw and passed many of the school busses that were doing the ship's tour. Also check and see if they are doing a "Screech In" at the Legion, it's a great time. Bring cash, if they are.

Fair winds and a trailing sea.

Edited September 14, 2023 by Blackduck59

[Mosaic]

Wow, nice website. Thank you.

[Ken the cruiser]

Wow! It's amazing how many cruise ships are near the path of Hurricane Lee, or at least close enough to feel its effects. Looks like the Zaandam is at least in a good place right now. We're going to be on the Caribbean Princess cruising from Quebec to Ft Lauderdale next month. Hopefully, this string of potential hurricanes currently lining up in the Atlantic will have cleared out by then, otherwise we're going to have a cruise to remember as well. 🤞

 

MS ZAANDAM Current Location (cruisemapper.com)