Zaandam - Alaska - 5/23-5/30

[jmelnick]

It's been almost a week since we got back from our trip to Alaska onboard the Zaandam. This was our fourth cruise and our first on HAL. It was a mixed bag, and in the end the negatives slightly outweighed the positives.

 

I really liked the size of the ship. Not too big, not too small. I thought the layout was pretty good. The Zaandam definitly had the best library that I've seen at sea! I also liked all the music related items all around the ship. The ship was in pretty good shape. A little wear and tear, but nothing to really get worked up over. I did notice crew working on scaping and painting some areas, so they are working to keep her in good shape.

 

Our outside cabin (1889 on deck 1 (Dolphin?)) was a good size with plenty of storage space. The bathroom was a good size. I really liked the bathtub; Not for taking baths, but because the shower curtain didn't wrap around me. The beds were probably the best I've had on a ship - real mattresses, not a thin pad on top of a platform. Our room steward was satisfactory.

 

The big problem with our room was the noise coming from below us. It started on the second night. The ship started a modest roll. Everytime the ship rolled to one side we heard this loud sliding and banging sound. When the ship rolled to the other side, we heard the sliding go in the other direction followed by another bang. We called the Front Desk, and they sent a steward. He said it was normal ship noises. We didn't belive him. Luckely, the seas calmed down and the noise subsided for the night.

 

Unfortunatly, it started up the next afternoon. This time we went to the Front Desk. They said that they'd check it out. Later that day we recieved an appology and a plate of chocolates. They indicated that everything was now battened down. After that, we never heard THAT noise again.

 

However, through out the crusie during the daytime, we'd hear strange noises coming from below. Nothing really worth compaining about. Then on the last night I had a bit of insomnia. I heard the sounds of large buckets of bottles being dumped and the sound of compactors or other machinery. I decided that we were over the recycling or garbage room. I'm pretty sure that the sliding/banging noise was from one of those large garbage bins not being secured. I wouldn't recommend this cabin to anyone.

 

The ports of call were exellent. Our private tours with Chilkoot Tours(Skagway), Island Wings (Ketchikan) and Orca Enterpises (Juneau) all were outstanding. The only ship's excursion we went on was the Ghosts and Good Times Girls tour in Skagway. A very enjoyable tour. Glacier bay was impressive even though the weather was bad. I really enjoyed being able to get to the bow of the ship and the hot pea soup!

 

The only real hitch was that we ended up tendering in Ketchican. It seems that HAL doesn't know how to run a tendering operation. At one point the line was two floors high. Luckely they were pusing people with earlier excursions to the front of the line. So we made our excursion with Island Wings.

 

The food was of good quality and it was tasty. Although, I found the portions in both the dining room and the lido buffet to be on the small side. The deserts were so-so, nothing really outstanding. The best were probably the small pastries that they serverd at the sweets and sailaway party in the Crow's Nest. I also thought the the hours for the Lido buffer were quite limited. It would have been nice if they were extended on port days.

 

The worst experience was at dinner the last night. My fiance had the worst meal of her life. It started with the soup course. Her soup came, she picks up her spoon, takes some soup, puts it into her mouth and YUCK! The spoon was covered in dried gunk from the previous user. We called our waiter over, who appolgized and replaced the soup and the spoon. Next up was her main course. She takes the first bite, and YUCK! There's a hair on her fish. Again we call the waiter over, who appoligizes and offers her a different entree. She gets a NY Steak, with was OK (although it was Med-Rare when she oreded Med). Then comes desert. She takes a bite, and YUCK! Another hair! At this point we're pretty disgusted. We call the waiter over once again, mostly just to point it out. He appoligizes, calls the Assistant Matre'd over - who appologizes. We say we've lost our appetites and leave.

 

On the way out we're talking to some friends (who are agasht) in the D.R. lobby when the Head Matre'd comes over to appologize - he asks for our cabin number. We go to the Front Desk to compain and then go back to our cabin to finish packing up. We're in our bathrobes, almost ready for bed, when there's a knock on the door. The Matre'd sent up chocolate covered stawberries. Too little, too late. I'm sure our cabin steward threw them out.

 

Up until that last disaster at dinner, I was willing to give HAL another chance. It was a bit sedate for me, but that could have just been that particular itinarary. However, the dining disaster really turned me off. Maybe after some time passes, I might feel different. I'll need to write a letter of complaint to HAL corporate. I'm not looking for compensation - I just want to let them know they have some problems.

 

Well, that's my 2 cents. Take it for what its worth.

[elmel]

Glad that you were able to find some good qualities of Holland America.

We have been on 9 HAL cruises and have never experienced the horrible meal that your fiance was subjected to on the last night of your cruise. I would write a letter to the President of the company. It is important to let them know what was wrong. In over 25 cruises we have never found a hair in any

of the food.

 

Elmel

[photodoodle]

Gulp! My cabin on the Statendam is in a similar location as yours - just slightly more aft. I suppose if you are on the lowest passenger deck, the ship's "working areas" are going to be below you. I just hope that there isn't any noise at night.

[hammybee]

I am so sorry that you had to endure what you did, during your final dining experience. It's sounds almost unimaginable that every course was as flawed as it was. I am speechless.

[Krazy Kruizers]

So sorry for your bad experiance on HAL. But I am glad that you enjoyed Alaska.

 

[AlohaPride]

That sounds like a horrible cruise. I'm so sorry the last dinner was so crummy. I definately would make my concerns known. I hope you left comments on your comment card as well.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed Alaska!