Zaandam Feb 4th Hawaii Cruise review 1

[RedmondCruiser]

After 10days without power, in 30 degree weather, in December. Then hit with a snowstorm in January. We therefore decided to get on a cruise for warmer weather, and get our of the Seattle area for a while. We had date restrictions so the only thing available was a 15 day cruise to Hawaii out of San Diego. Luckily it was on one of our favorite ships, the Zaandam. We prefer the R class ships. The only problem was we had to take an inside cabin ( cat L ) since no outside or veranda cabins were available. This was a big come down since our last cruise was a Panama Canal cruise on the Westerdam and that was in an SA suite.

I won’t bore you with info on the flight down or the Hotel.

Embarkation was very swift and we were on the ship by 12:30. My first impression was that the Zaandam was starting to show here age. She will dry dock before the Alaska season and they have a lot of carpet to replace. The elevators were a mess. Both the outside and inside of the elevator doors are in dire need to replacement. The moldings around the doors were all riveted to hold them in place. These are superficial things that can be readily corrected.

I anticipated that after a day or so at sea we could use the pool but the Pacific is too cold and the aft pool was unused until we reached Hawaii. Crossing the Pacific can be rough but the rolling action of the ship was only a problem on one occasion.

The food was great. All meals were a culinary delight, and that’s a chore when your making 6000 meals per day. We were late seating, main floor, and it was at 8:15. On the PC cruise late seating was 8:30. As always the entire staff on the ship were outstanding. We also had a great meal in the Pinnacle along with a great bottle of wine.

Speaking of liquor. The bar manager, Randal Corchane, had two premium wine tasting classes and three mixology classes. If they are offered on your next cruise treat yourself and go to them. The wine classes presented premium wines accompanied by a plate of cheeses and other delicacies. It was a memorable experience. Randal is very entertaining and informative and is an asset to the line. In the mixology class you got four drinks, martinis, margaritas and other interesting drinks for $10. The premium wine class was $35. Both are well worth it. A buzz at three in the afternoon for $10 ??

With nine total sea days my relationship with the casino could have been very expensive. I like three card poker and we had a great group of regulars. Luckily I broke even for the entire cruise and that to me is a win. The Texas Holdem table was always full.

Next Hawaii

[Gary & Judy]

:D Hi Ron. We made it back to Tenn. Yes the Zaandam is a great ship and it was a pleasure to have met you. I loved the trip over myself it gave me time to adjust to the time change. The Islands were great and seeing an active Volacno was something special to us. The lava flowing down red at night was something to see.

 

And for the whale watchers there was whales out the waazoo. I got a pic of one jumping beside the ship comepletly out of the water.

 

Oh yea by the way you can get pics of a Volcano at night. Just do not use your flash and have a good zoom lens on your digital camera.

 

The casino did a booming bussiness while we were on board and the 3 card table was hard to get on to w/ certian people on it. HA

Did stay on the Holdem table the whole trip.

 

This was a great trip my wife says she wants to return so guess what, I guess we will.

 

The Zaandam is one great ship but so are all of the Dam Ships.:eek: