May 25 Zaandam Alaska Cruise Review

[JULGAVIN]

Info about the ports is posted on the Alaska Port Board under Review of Alaska Ports & Excursions

TRANSFER OR TAXI

It was unbelievably easy walking off the plane, through Customs and out of the airport. My partner works for FedEx so we took advantage of her employee discount and shipped our luggage to the hotel. What a luxury!

The taxi was $26 from the airport to the hotel and our driver was a very nice man from India. —he had a burnt orange turban and uncut facial hair, perhaps a Sikh? He’d always been fascinated by North America as a child and couldn’t wait to move here as an adult. We laughed about the fact that after 10 years in Vancouver, he can no longer take the heat when he goes home to visit—up to 130 degrees in summer! While he was growing up, his family would use fans blowing across water to cool their house during the pre-monsoon season. But, he said, nothing could cool the house during and after the monsoon.

VANCOUVER HOTEL

We work 24/7 jobs in the transportation industry. On our previous trips I’d had to work until 0500 of the day we left. This time we were able to fly in the day before and that really lowered my stress level! I can be fussy when it comes to hotels but my checklist for this trip was minimal as we’d be arriving at 8 p.m. and departing the next morning. I wanted a central location so we wouldn’t have an outrageous taxi fare to the ship, food available through room service as I knew we’d be too tired to go out and, of course, clean and safe.

I’d read about booking hotel rooms through the bidding process on Priceline on the boards and though I didn’t get a phenomenal bargain, I did save 20% (paid $120 for a $150 room). I suspect I would have gotten a better price if I’d been willing to wait and bid closer to the date. After it was done, I realized I didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t change my mind, so I don’t know if I would do this again. A woman’s prerogative and all that!

However, the hotel was a great choice for us: Plaza 500 on the West Side, near downtown and just minutes from the cruise ship pier. Three happy surprises: a balcony, a gourmet restaurant on the premises (FigMint) and Safeway across the street where we could get our non-alcoholic drinks for the ship. We had expected adequate “hotel food” from room service and it was a shock to be served a great meal at the appropriate temperature in a reasonable amount of time. The hotel was lovely, the room spacious and clean with all the basic travel necessities. Since we were smokers in a non-smoking hotel, the balcony made things really easy for us and we appreciated it. The room was nicely decorated and unexpectedly large—though the bathroom was awkwardly designed and small. The hotel and restaurant staff was friendly and accommodating. Priceline’s 3 star rating for this hotel was accurate and we were really pleased.

FigMint is outstanding and serves all three meals and does room service until 11 p.m.—a wonderful thing for tired travelers. I had mushroom leek quiche and a fabulous wild green salad with a “mimosa” poached egg and a light dressing. Sounds odd, I know, but it was delicious. Mary had fish and chips and loved it.

I set up the laptop and discovered that one of the batteries in the wireless mouse had “melted.” The outer covering was peeling off, which was alarming. So I tossed it and then realized the wireless mouse was actually working with one battery. It made me nervous, though, wondering if it is possible for an AA battery to “blow up” and we decided to replace it at the first opportunity. I don’t know if there was some kind of hot spot above our overhead compartment that did it, but in the future, I’ll be removing the mouse batteries!

Great beds: Mary was out cold by 10 p.m. and I followed suit by 11 p.m.

The next morning, after watching French cartoons while we packed up, we had a wonderful breakfast. Breakfast at FigMint in the hotel was, like dinner, outstanding. I had corned beef hash Eggs Benedict served on a toasted Brioche and Mary had sausage and scrambled eggs. The three sausage were the size of hot dogs and impossible to finish. Expensive, though, as breakfast cost us almost as much as dinner: $40 for two breakfasts, one coffee and one juice, tax and tip. However, so often while we’re travelling, we waste money on expensive, inedible and unsatisfying airport and hotel food, at least we had a really good meal that was worth what we paid for it!

After breakfast we set off on a mouse hunt. Unfortunately, the Best Buy 5 blocks from the hotel wouldn’t open until 1100, but we had a lovely walk. This city is so green and full of flowers and the people so welcoming, that we agreed that next time we should come earlier and explore a little. We stopped on the way back to buy a Vancouver mug to add to my little collection of Starbucks local mugs. On the street outside the hotel, a homeless man we’d passed each time we went in and out, shouted “third time’s the charm!” and I gave him my $5 Canadian change.

We’d left our shipped bags in the hotel storage room to pick up in the morning since we didn’t need anything from them. Turned out our new 25 inch Delsey suitcases were as tough as advertised: they survived the shipping with no broken zippers or torn seams. Our old American Tourister suit bags were fine, as usual. We’d noticed at the airport that the majority of taxis were very small so we asked the front desk to order us a van and it arrived within 10 minutes. Canada Place was only a $12 cab ride away from the hotel—couldn’t have been more convenient.

EMBARKATION

We chose to arrive at the dock early rather than sightsee because there were a number of things we wanted to book on board and hoped to avoid long lines. We took a taxi to the cruise terminal, arriving at 11:30, where plenty of porters were waiting to take our luggage. We went through security fairly quickly and then moved on to the HAL check-in line. At that point we were seated to wait to go on board. But even so, from the time we got out of the taxi until we walked up the gangplank was only 45 minutes. I was impressed.

Since we boarded on the Main Deck instead of the lobby there was no room for a big welcome, everyone was channeled straight to the elevators and up to the Lido. What it lacked in glamour, it made up for in practicality. Unlike Azamara Journey in New Jersey, there was no steep climb to get to the deck—it was a flat, easy walk for everyone.

GET ONBOARD, GET ON LINE!

Once onboard, we headed immediately for the Front Desk to make a request, book a class and ask a few questions. First I asked that we be notified if it was possible to see the Northern Lights. . I also signed up for the Cooking Class which had been given rave reviews by CC members. I also got the facts on the various laundry, pressing and dry cleaning options.

Because I find the Steiner staff so annoying about pushing products, I always swear I will not use the salon but usually end up running out of time pre-cruise and need to book an onboard haircut, manicure and pedicure, or facial. This time I’d gotten everything done, so we had no need to stand in the spa appointment line. In fairness to Steiner, the services themselves have always been top notch—and for a stranger to give me a haircut I actually like is nothing short of miraculous. I just wish there was a no talking to the customer rule!

We chose to keep our carryons with us but there is a place to check them so you can wander the ship unencumbered until your cabin is ready.

Our cruise docs said the Lido and Pool Grill would be open at 1130. My partner sat with our bags at a table on the aft deck with a gorgeous view of Vancouver, and I went in and stood in the very long buffet line. HAL has made big changes to prevent the spread of Norovirus and it does mean long lines for every buffet meal. However, the line moves along quickly and everyone seemed to think it’s a small price to pay to stay healthy. It also helped that we had Patrick, the singing steward, handing out trays and entertaining us! They have anti-bacterial hand lotion everywhere you turn and, in the restaurants, actively encourage people to use them. We tried the lamb, shoestring potatoes and fresh spinach (I knew it was fresh because it was cooked in front of me!) and it was very good.

We found HAL’s smoking policy a little different from our previous experiences where one side of the mid-ship pool area was smoking and the other non-smoking. Instead, HAL has made the area around the midship pool all non-smoking and the aft outdoor area is smoking, which is, I think, better for everyone. There is one smoking area in the Ocean Bar on Deck 5, another in the Crow’s Nest and most evenings in the Casino seemed to be non-smoking. This policy seems to be working as neither of us heard any complaints from non-smokers.

An announcement was made that the cabins were ready at 1:15 p.m.—only: 15 late.

CABIN

We loved the location of our Oceanview cabin, just a few doors from the exit to the Lower Promenade deck and the aft elevators. At 197 square feet, it was the largest we’d had yet. Our obstructed view was a section of metal wall. We had plenty of light with the sheer curtains open and heavy drapes for privacy. Due to comments on the CC boards regarding whether the one way window glass is effective, I checked it out and found that the only way you could see inside was to press your face right up against the glass. Passers by see only a reflection of themselves.

Having easy access to the wraparound teak deck with wooden deckchairs, cushions and blankets almost made up for not having a balcony. There were many sightseeing points where we chose to be there rather than the upper decks which were always more crowded.

Oceanview cabins on Zaandam don’t have a refrigerator. We didn’t know if we would mind—we didn’t.

If you enjoy reading in bed, bring a book light. There are no bedside lamps—the lighting is built into the headboard, so the only way to use it for reading is to lie down flat and raise the book. Silly! The room lights are also built into the headboard and we frequently leaned back against them and turned on every light in the room! The cabin doesn’t have a clock so be sure to bring your own travel alarm. I also bring a nightlight and a pair of short bungee cords for keeping the closet doors shut on stormy nights—or the balcony doors open on nice days, when we have a balcony. The bed was extremely comfortable and we slept well every night.

Our cabin had a shower/tub with a curtain that never glued itself to me. For the first time on any ship, we had a medicine cabinet –which kept the sink area clear of toiletries. A clothes line is attached to the side wall of the shower. If you are someone who likes to rinse things out and hang them in the bathroom, be advised, though, that nothing seemed to dry in there, no matter how well-wrung out it was. Shower gel, shampoo and conditioner, and body lotion are supplied, as well as one hairdryer attached to the wall and a portable model in the desk drawer. I loved the lighted, adjustable, magnifying vanity mirror over the desk—and so did my partner who was able to get into the bathroom in half the usual time. There isn’t enough light to properly do makeup in the bathroom, so I appreciated this.

The flat screen TV and DVD player worked well. I had read complaints about the DVD remote not working properly and they are accurate. We had our own DVDs and we watched some of the free movies offered. If you are a movie person, by the way, Wal-Mart sells a $3.00 25 slot DVD case that weighs next to nothing! HAL has a DVD library in Explorations Café. You’ll find a DVD list in the cabin literature. Since we’d brought our own, I can’t tell you how fast they run out, but rumor had it that you should do your borrowing on the first day or forget it.

Our luggage was conveniently brought one bag at a time at about 15 minute intervals—convenient because we’d unpack one, shove it under the bed and move on to the next. By the time the Life Boat Drill announcements were made, we were all settled in with shelves to spare.

I consider myself a moderate neat freak—I like uncluttered surfaces and, once I’ve unpacked, get cranky if I have to search through piles of “stuff” for what I want, so the amount of storage in the cabin and bathroom is important to me. Whoever designed HAL’s cabins included some useful and fun options. There are two drawers in the nightstands and the standard 3 closets all had fold down shelves so I could “customize” them. We stashed our drinks in the 2 big drawers under the foot of the bed that are 2 feet by 3 feet and there was still room left under the bed for our 4 pieces of luggage and 4 carry ons.

I appreciated the three drawers in the desk, one of which I used to stash our electronics near the one and only outlet. We bring a 6 outlet surge protector to plug in the laptop and charge the camera, video camera, walkie talkies and cell phones. It was fine with me that everything but the laptop had to be stored in drawers—with the ice bucket and glasses and tray and basket of fruit, there’s not much desk surface area left. The small safe in one of the closets is operated by swiping a credit card—no charge, but you do have to remember which card you used!

Excursion vouchers for the first week were in our cabin, as promised.

For this trip, since we had the time and it was convenient, we packed a wheeled, fold up tote and made a trip to the grocery store across the street from our hotel to pick up bottled water and Perrier (not included on soft drink cards) and Decaf Diet Coke. The latter is not easy to find on most ships and not included in HAL’s soda card. What is included is any soda that is in the bar “gun”. If it comes out of a can, it’s not included. Onboard we purchased two drink cards good for 18 sodas for $20 per card and used them up just before the end of the cruise. If you pre-order soda, cocktail, wine or coffee cards, they should be waiting for you in your cabin. If you wait to purchase a card onboard, they’re offered on the first At Sea Day, not embarkation day.

LIFEBOAT DRILL

2007 was a year that actually saw cruise passengers evacuated from ships, which brought home to most of us that this boring exercise is a necessity!

Don’t bother trying to hide out in the cabin—stewards are required by international law to check every one of the staterooms and make sure the passengers are out. On Deck, HAL staff checks every lifejacket for muster section and room number which is written on the front of the vest and the exercise isn’t over until everyone is accounted for. Those who wandered out late to the exercise were bombarded with directions from their fellow cruisers to get in line and get on with it!

SAIL AWAY

After we’d returned our life jackets to the closet, we wandered around on our way to the sail away, finding Explorations. I really like that HAL combined the coffee lounge, the library and the internet center, making it one big, bright room with a variety of sitting areas. We considered getting the $100 internet package for 250 minutes plus 20 minutes for buying on the first day. When I had set up my laptop in the stateroom, my computer detected the wireless network immediately. After much debate, we decided it was a good thing to stay away from the real world and didn’t get it.

Back up on Lido deck the sail away was in progress with live music and pizza and tacos being served at the Pool Grill. We went aft and watched float planes and eagles and sea gulls fly by as we passed through the beautiful mountain-lined channel. Joggers and cyclists waved to us as we passed under the bridge which seemed to mark the real beginning of the journey.

We made our way through the casino and explored the shops. We couldn’t believe it when, in amongst the travel size toiletries we found a wireless mouse! $39 and the funniest, tackiest thing I have ever seen—it had a Zaandam ship replica floating in blue water in the body of it. I loved it. The salesperson was personable and amusing, giving all totals in pennies (“that’ll be 39,000, please”) and, after noting my questionable taste in buying this tacky mouse, attempted to find equally weird items I might like as well. I bought some purple nail polish remover just to make him happy.

FIRST NIGHT

The timing for the Early Show for late diners never really matched up with the start of late seating. The first show started at 7 p.m. which meant we had to leave early to be on time for dinner. This turned out to be a non-issue for us as we didn’t care for the shows in the theatre.

I was a bit disappointed at first to find we’d been put at a table for two. As much as we enjoy each other’s company, we also enjoy meeting new people and had requested a large table. However, we started chatting with a retired twosome next to us, from central Florida. Dinner was unusually good. We tried a Thai appetizer and seafood cakes, French onion soup and Shrimp Corn chowder, Caesar and spinach salads and both had Prime Rib. I couldn’t remember if I’d ever tried Baked Alaska before—what I was served was vanilla soup with bits of brownie in it! Mary’s Chef’s Signature chocolate cake was great.

Monday, May 26, 2008 Day 1 At Sea

After breakfast in the Lido, we checked out the Cold Weather Lido deck sale and I bought a book on Cruising Alaska so I could keep track of our progress up the Inside Passage. Unfortunately, we were fogged in all day so we had no idea where we were! There were quite a few people in the pools and hot tubs.

I then reported to the Demonstration Kitchen for my class only to find they had in fact changed the class back to 1030! I was disappointed and got a promise of a refund (I had already booked and paid for the next cooking class on Saturday).

As I went back upstairs to find Mary, an announcement was made that a pod of whales had been sighted off the port side and everyone rushed to the windows. By the time I could get a glimpse the show was over but I knew there would be many more in just a few days.

After lunch, we went to the Mondrian theatre for the 2 p.m. lecture on Alaska’s Volcanoes but, unfortunately, the speaker was not compelling. So off we went to the Crows Nest to read and watch the fog. It’s my favorite place on every ship: floor to ceiling windows, comfortable seats. At 2:30 p.m. we joined in the line dancing lesson which was a blast. Three instructors teach 3 different line dances. Since this is something we don’t normally do and we used muscles that have evidently been asleep for years, we laughed every time we climbed a staircase at the unusual places that ached!

After line dancing we went to Royal Tea in the Rotterdam Dining Room which was very good. A multitude of finger sandwiches (salmon, beef, prosciutto) and sweets (swan cream puffs, chocolate éclairs, tiny fruit and custard tarts, etc.). The view from the Rotterdam improved as the fog finally started to burn off. From there I headed for the Front Desk to hand in our form for the Walk for the Cure on Saturday and to follow up on the fact that after making 3 reports on Sunday (to our steward, on the phone and in person at the front desk) that our room was very hot, no one had come to fix the air/temperature control in our stateroom.

The front desk person told his supervisor who shrugged, didn’t look at me and walked away. My luck changed with Hannah, the manager. She called Facilities and found out the techs had been diverted the previous night to fix a major dishwasher problem and promised a tech would be by tonight, probably while we were at the late seating. The tech indeed came by, first tried to convince us there was no problem (always a mistake with an annoyed consumer!) and then finally took the covers off the vents and found that one was not working and one was partially closed. He left to check on the individual unit and never came back. Finally, the 4th day it was finally fixed due to Hannah following up each day. It never worked properly (couldn’t control the temperature) but at least there was air flow so we could breathe.

My overall impression of the Front Desk, with the exception of manager Hannah, is that HAL’s focus on service has passed them by. In addition to the above, I also called down and asked for two more pillows and the woman who answered said, “I’ll have to see if we have any” and said she’d call back. She never did. I ran into our steward in the hallway and he had them in our cabin by the time we went to bed. It was almost as if the Front Desk worked for a different company! Please understand, though, that every other person in every other department on the ship was helpful and accommodating—the best we’ve had while cruising.

FIRST FORMAL NIGHT

We dressed for dinner and made our way up to the Rotterdam. Although HAL has a reputation for being a bit more formal than the other mainstream lines, we found the same formal night mix we’ve found on other ships: men in black tie to business casual. The women, too, ran the gamut from gowns to business casual. I wore a long black dress and Mary a dressy black jacket and pants and blouse, so we fit right in. About 1/3 of those with late seating chose to skip this first formal night. The waiters obliged everyone by taking pictures in addition to the videographer and ship’s photographers making the rounds. The fog by this time was long gone and the view of the sea was beautiful.

The Captain’s Dinner was very good. We tried pate, shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad and chilled cream of potato and leek soup and rack of lamb. For dessert, we tried an apple tart that was a cake not a tart and very dry, and a hot fudge sundae.

TOWEL ANIMALS, STEWARD, & CABIN SERVICE

My partner loves “towel animals” and I swear her opinion of the steward has more to do with that than whether he cleans the bathroom! So by her standards our stewards on Conquest and Infinity were great and Journey was terrible. It didn’t matter to her that the Journey steward kept the cabin spotless and left us a sweet every night, there was nothing to make her laugh when she opened the door and that’s what she remembers. Our Zaandam Steward, Doode, left us a sting ray, a squid, a turkey, a lobster, a dog, a cobra, an elephant and—best of all—a hanging orangutan! On all four cruises, I have been really pleased with our stewards, the cleanliness of our cabins and the fact that on a cruise, unlike a hotel, rooms are serviced twice a day. The service has been “invisible,” i.e. we almost never saw our steward and that’s how we like it.

LAUNDRY & DRY CLEANING

On a two week cruise laundry and dry cleaning matter—and with the heavier clothes required for an Alaska cruise combined with airline weight restrictions, they matter even more. There are several laundry options. You can pay a flat fee of $12 for everything you can stuff into the small HAL laundry bag—good if all you need to do is mostly underwear. Or you can pay by the piece (expensive). Or, you can do it yourself for $2 washer and $1 dryer. The machines only take quarters and you don’t add your own soap: you push a button and liquid laundry detergent is added. The third option is great if most of your clothes are machine washable.. The washer takes about 45 minutes and the dryer an hour.

We did two loads of laundry and one by the bag. I brought two rolls of quarters (they’re also available at the purser’s desk), and a plastic bag of dryer sheets. There are two irons and ironing boards in the laundry room. Or you can purchase an unlimited pressing card for $30.

Another option is to buy an unlimited laundry card that is priced by how many days you’ll be aboard. If you want this, talk to the front desk. Most of our clothing is dry cleaned, so during week two we dry cleaned the pieces we needed for the rest of the trip and brought the rest home to be sent to our cut-rate neighborhood cleaner.

PACKING

There are two kinds of packers. One group says “if I need it, I can buy it there.” The other hates wasting vacation time on a quest to find a strange store in a strange town that carries strange, expensive brands. I fall into the latter category. We somehow managed to lose our 10 year old Timex travel clock on our Bermuda trip and couldn’t find one locally for less than $30, which we stubbornly refused to pay. I don’t wear a watch so it drove me nuts not to have a clock in the cabin.

I pack a “medicine bag” of over the counter medications we’ve needed in the past while travelling because my partner always gets sick in the middle of the night on weekends a million miles from shore where it would cost us $200 for the ship’s doctor to give her an ounce of Pepto Bismol. It’s really a form of travel insurance: if I pack Theraflu and cherry cough drops, she won’t get a cold. If I pack Benadryl, I won’t have an allergic reaction. If I pack Tums, the food will be great. You get the idea. One definite advantage of travelling to Alaska in the computer age is that when I misplaced my seasickness patches, I was able to go to a local pharmacy in Ketchikan where they filled the scrip in 15 minutes! That’s faster service than I get at home!

No matter how carefully I pack, though, I’ve learned to accept that something for which I’m not prepared is bound to happen and we end up on a quest. On this trip, of course, it was our melted mouse.

ALASKA PACKING

Alaska weather is unpredictable and daily temperatures can swing wildly between summer heat and winter cold and between sunshine and rain. It’s possible find yourself shivering from the cold and swatting mosquitoes on the same day! By the way, despite all the jokes about the mosquito being Alaska’s state bird, they seem to show up on land, not onboard the ship. I did bring insect repellent for our Zipline adventure in the rain forest, but didn’t need it until we were standing around the totem poles at Saxman Village outside Ketchikan a week later. We had fabulous weather—almost no rain and light jacket weather every day except when we were at the glaciers, when we did need winter clothing.

Packing for Alaska is challenging. You’re really packing for 3 seasons: winter, summer and fall/spring. If you’re the packer in the family that will tell you why people on the boards are always trading packing lists. Between the airline weight restrictions and the weather, you end up staring at an unbelievable stack of clothing! Cold weather clothes take up more space and weigh more than summer clothes—yes, space bags really do let you get more into a small suitcase but squeezing the air out doesn’t make the clothing weigh much less! Because you will need both light and heavy items, you can’t use the Caribbean formula of packing one day and one night outfit for each day of the cruise.

What I find really useful, is a lined waterproof jacket layered with a sweater. Many people go one step further and buy a waterproof jacket with a zip out fleece shell—two jackets in one! If you can find one that has pockets that zip closed, that’s even better for those times you don’t want to or can’t carry a purse (like when you’re Ziplining through the rain forest!). If you can’t find one, don’t worry, every port sells them for $20.

It rains so often that many people feel quite strongly about waterproof shoes. We settled for using spray on waterproofing. Go to http://www.travelalaska.com/Climate/10.aspx to see what Alaskans recommend.

DINING

The hours for each venue change daily, so check your program when making plans. We are picky about dinner, not so picky about breakfast and lunch. Our cruise dining experiences have been mediocre (Carnival Conquest), great (Celebrity Infinity), and good (Azamara Journey). I was curious to see what HAL would be like. Ratings for HAL cuisine overall are usually very good, although the member reviews for individual sailings on specific HAL ships are sometimes mixed.

Breakfast - Rotterdam

Rotterdam is open seating and the hours vary day to day but are generally around 0800-0930. We went to breakfast in the Rotterdam only once and didn’t feel the quality was any different from the Lido. The main reason to go there for breakfast is to be waited on.

Breakfast – Lido

We usually end up in the Lido for breakfast and lunch.How’s the food? Good—especially the cooked to order omelets. There are waiters to help you with your trays and clear them from your table, as well as bring you drinks.

Java Café morning offerings

This is where the more serious Coffee Drinkers head each morning. You pay for coffee and pastries are free. Everyone is fussy about something: with me it’s coffee, so I can’t tell you about the ship’s coffee because I don’t drink it. I bring my own and, without fail every day of four cruises, I have unplugged the pot and hidden it from the steward in the cupboard, so don’t flame me about fire hazards. It’s not an SUV; it can’t burst into flames if it’s not turned on!

Lunch - Rotterdam

Rotterdam is open seating and the hours vary daily but are generally around noon to 1 p.m. We had lunch in the dining room only once and really enjoyed it. Like breakfast, the quality was the same as the Lido.

Lunch – Lido

Soups are outstanding, sandwiches good and entrees good.

Lunch - The Pinnacle Grill ($15)

At home our favorite way to try out an expensive restaurant is to have lunch instead of dinner—that way we can be adventurous and not feel we’ve lost a bundle if we don’t care for it. So when we saw that The Pinnacle Grill would be open for lunch on some days (usually At Sea Days) we thought we’d give it a try. We really enjoyed it, the service was terrific and the food several levels above that of the lunch at the Lido and the Rotterdam.

Lunch - Terrace Café by the indoor pool is usually open all afternoon. The menu includes a taco and fajitas bar, veggie burgers and hamburgers and hot dogs, French fries and pizza. The French fries were good, the rest just okay.

Lunch – Alaska Cookout (Lido Deck) this is offered once a week around the covered pool and the grilled salmon is wonderful. Like the Grand Chocolate Buffet, the lines are confusing and unmarked (you’re not sure what you’re standing in line for or if you need to go through two lines to get everything, etc.).

Afternoon Ice Cream: I have never seen so many adults having such a great time eating ice cream cones! I hate to break all those hard-working chefs’ hearts, but if I had to choose just one item, I would vote this the most popular item on the ship. Different flavors (including one sugar-free) were offered every day with a topping and a sauce. One Lido serving area stays open all afternoon and it’s OK to pop in wearing a bathing suit and cover up.

Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea is from 3:15 to 4 p.m. in the Rotterdam Dining Room every day and includes finger sandwiches and lots of little pastries, all of which were delicious. You select your food as you walk in and then are escorted to a table where a waiter brings your tea.

Pre-Dinner Appetizers

If you have late seating by choice or by default and get the munchies in the late afternoon, you have the option of having hot hor’s deourves in the Crow’s Nest or Ocean Bar, or you can pick up a fruit and cheese tray in the Lido and bring it back to your room or out on deck.

Dinner - Rotterdam

When we booked in January we requested late seating and were 3rd on the waitlist. Our HAL booking agent assured us that being that high on the list meant we would probably get it and when we checked in, our At Sea cards showed that we had. We had asked for a large table but were assigned a table for two and made friends with the couple seated next to us. Our server, Supraman, was outstanding. When the one way passengers came on and off in Seward, the four of us requested to be moved to one of his window tables and instead were moved to the next station. It was a choice we regretted as our new server was not very good at all. However, we really enjoyed the view. That’s one really wonderful thing about those extra long Alaskan days: you’re looking at a fabulous view at dinner every night instead of black windows.

The food was generally good every night and we had fun trying things we’d never tried before. I really like the fact that the portions are small so that I can experiment on all 5 courses without feeling I am wasting food if I don’t care for something. One odd thing, on a line noted for service, was that Mary has asked to be served Escargot every night on other lines and has been accommodated. Our Zaandam server said no, it was not possible. It is only served on the second formal night.

Overall, I would say that the only area where the cuisine was weak was pasta. We tried numerous dishes in the Lido and the Rotterdam and couldn’t eat any of them. At best, they were bland. My partner is Italian, which means we are a bit picky about pasta, so take our opinion with a grain of salt! The only other item that disappointed was, oddly enough, the “turf” in the Surf and Turf. Usually it’s the lobster that is botched—rubbery and overcooked, Here the lobster was done properly and the steak was a 3 by 2 inch, thin tasteless piece of beef.

We had a good time wearing our toques during the Master Chef’s dinner when the waiters dance in doing a “napkin ballet” and everyone is served an amuse bouche of mushroom pate in puff pastry and a salad course of tomato stuffed with greens and mushrooms. The dessert was a fun white chocolate chef’s toque stuffed with a chocolate mousse.

Dinner – Lido

We had dinner in the Lido twice and found the menu was the same as the Rotterdam. You serve yourself the first few courses and the maitre’d takes your table number and has the main course served to you. Waiters also circulate to take drink orders. Everything was very good.

Dinner - The Pinnacle Grill ($30)

We met many people who had dinner here and had nothing but good things to say about it.

Coffee & Desserts in the Java Café

The Java seemed to offer most of the same desserts you’ll find in the Rotterdam and Lido and these were on offer most nights until 10 p.m.

Midnight Buffet & the Grand Chocolate Extravaganza

I was surprised to read that there would be a nightly midnight buffet in the Lido on Zaandam. Somehow I thought that tradition went out with “The Love Boat.” The only “midnight buffet” we’d experienced on previous trips was a dessert extravaganza. Most nights this is actually a late night snack that is served around 11 p.m. and each night has a different theme: Dutch, American, Italian, Indonesian, etc. Since we had late dinner seating, I didn’t expect to sample it but, as it turned out, we took advantage of it twice on nights we’d skipped lunch and eaten a very early dinner in the Lido. If you wanted to, you could make yet another 5 course meal out of this: starter, soup, salad, entrée with vegetable and starch and, of course, dessert. (I don’t know when these cooks and waiters sleep!) We enjoyed it both times. Once a week instead of the snack, they have the Grand Chocolate Extravaganza, which was incredible. It is staged around the covered pool. They had an Eiffel Tower made of chocolate and a huge cake “lobster” that looked real and I lost track of just how many cakes and pastries were offered. Even if you’re not hungry, bring your camera and wander around.

24 Hours a Day

The usual water, coffee and tea, iced tea and juice in the Lido. I asked for and was told there were no teapots in the Lido, so if you’re fussy about tea you might want to “borrow” one from the Rotterdam and bring it with you when you partake. Otherwise, you dunk the bag in the very small cup. Our friends from the south found fault with the iced tea and made their own with glasses of ice and hot tea. There are the usual tiny glasses for drinks. If you step out to the pool bar and get a tall plastic glass you might be happier.

Room Service

The Rotterdam dinner menu is available through room service for the first 45 minutes of the evening service from (the dinner menus are posted outside the Rotterdam dining room, not in your cabin, so you’ll have to do a little research if you want to use this option). A form will be left in your cabin each night to order breakfast for the next morning—just post it on your door. We did this only once, on disembarkation day. I was surprised that it was offered and sorry we hadn’t done it before. The food was hot and good and the order was correct and served on time.

ONBOARD ACTIVITIES & ENTERTAINMENT

There is something about cruising that brings out the summer camp goofball in me. I love reading the Daily Program each night and deciding what we’ll do the next day. I had read about the series of Alaska lectures that would be offered and had looked forward to them. Unfortunately, in my opinion, our lecturer had no talent for it, so after checking her out twice, I gave up on these.

I’d also read about the $29 cooking class on the boards and booked it as soon as we came on board. It was wonderful. I hadn’t grasped, though, that after class you all troop across to the Pinnacle and eat the lunch you’ve just made. Unfortunately, this happened to be the same day we had a reservation for lunch at the Pinnacle, so I missed out on that part. There were two of these offered each week with 12 spaces in each class. I brought home my apron and the recipe cards and plan to recreate them soon.

I did the Walk for the Cure, a 5K (13.5 times around the Lower Promenade) on Saturday and really enjoyed it. My $15 got me a T shirt and a wrist band and, since we were in the Inside Passage, the prettiest walk I’ve ever taken. It was offered both Saturdays. (This started on HAL and has spread to other cruise lines. Lots of people who don’t want to do the walk still make the contribution.)

We took a line dancing class and had a great time (even with my fake knees!). We also attended a 9 minute film, “Despino,” shown by the Art Department. It was fascinating: a film by Salvador Dali made for Walt Disney—what a combination! I can’t tell you what it’s about because, since it’s Dali, no one knows! Karaoke night was especially fun for us because one of our new friends was a retired country singer and really good. Trivia and game shows were well done. One of my partner’s strengths is “Name That Tune.” On Zaandam, we played it with the Azalea Strings in the Explorer Lounge. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard a string quartet playing Jimi Hendrix’ “Purple Haze!” It was really fun. This quartet was unusually good and the musicians were very personable. Night after night, this was the most crowded lounge on the ship.

With the exception of the Azalea Strings, though, we thought the production shows and lounge musicians were not good and lacked variety. On our 7 and 10 day cruises we hadn’t paid much attention to this, but it was really noticeable on this longer cruise with 6 at sea days (including the glacier days). As for the alternatives, I give the Cruise Director credit for the fact that he didn’t just post “dancing in the Crow’s Nest” with a DJ every night: there were a variety of themes including country night with live music and line dancing, Karaoke night, and “game shows.”

PHOTOGRAPHS

Although we travel with a digital camera and a camcorder, we like the professional photographs of ourselves on formal nights, the ship and the Alaskan scenery. I had read that we could buy 10 photos for $99. Unfortunately, the new vendor didn’t offer this and we were really disappointed. All photos were a minimum of $14.95 and the formal portraits were $39.95. Wildlife shots were even more expensive. We all have our individual, arbitrary limits on what we’ll pay for something. This was, to us, overpriced. In fact, we had budgeted $100 for ship photos and didn’t buy a single one.

CASINO

The Casino offered Blackjack, roulette, craps, three-card poker, Caribbean stud poker and Texas Hold’em and, of course, slot machines. Blackjack and Slot Tournaments were held several times and gaming lessons were also offered. We won a casino jacket with a raffle drawn from our losing scratch tickets and were charmed by the fact that, since we weren’t there for the drawing, the host delivered it to our stateroom.

GLACIER BAY NATIONAL PARK & COLLEGE FJORD: BRING YOUR BINOCULARS!

It is estimated that there are some 100,000 glaciers in Alaska and that the state is 4% ice. We spent 9 hours in Glacier Bay on the way North and 7 hours going South, plus 3 hours each way in College Fjord. 260 years ago Glacier Bay didn’t exist. At the end of the Little Ice Age, around 1750, the ice field became rivers of glaciers pulling back from the sea. As it retreated, the sea poured in and created Glacier Bay. In 1794, when Captain George Vancouver visited the south end of the bay, Icy Strait, it extended only 5 miles inland; 85 years later John Muir was able to travel 40 miles inland; and only 27 years after that, visitors found the ice had retreated 65 miles! The estimated 300,000 annual visitors arrive by boat or by air, with the Canadian Steamship Company claiming that theirs was the first “modern” cruise ship to visit in 1953. From the ship, 9 or 12 (depending on who’s counting) tidewater glaciers can be seen, some of which actively calve. Being on the spot when an iceberg is born is a memorable experience. We were thrilled we saw calving. The Captain did a great job of getting us really close.

To limit pollution and interference with wildlife, no more than two cruise ships per day are permitted in the bay during the summer and they are governed by strict rules. If you find yourself wondering why the Captain seems to be cruising away from an interesting site, take a good look around: there may be a humpback in the area! This is why you must bring binoculars—if you don’t, you will be strongly tempted to buy them. We saw a family of bears, an entire beach full of sea lions, bald eagles flying and resting on ice floes, seals and otters swimming and floating by on their backs—but few were close enough to be more than blobs in the distance. Binoculars made all the difference.

Cruise ships aren’t allowed to dock in Glacier Bay so two National Park Service rangers (or naturalists) come on board and set up shop in a lounge. You can stop by and talk to them and pick up literature. Or stay outside gazing at the scenery listening as their comments are broadcast throughout the ship. We wandered all over the ship: the top deck, fore and aft, the Crow’s Nest, and went out to the bow on Deck 4 where we got great pictures. We ended up back on our own deck, the Lower Promenade, where we gazed up in awe at 200 foot high glacier walls.

As we cruised through College Fjord, it was fun imagining what it was like 109 years ago when the Harriman Expedition steaming into College Fjord in 1899. As a railroader, I was fascinated by Edward Henry Harriman who was one of that century’s league of American railroad moguls. Advised by his doctor to take a rest from stress or suffer the consequences, his response was typically over the top. He bought and renovated the steamship George W. Elder to accommodate 126 passengers and crew and, along with his family, artists and scientists, set out to explore American’s last frontier. The ship’s library was stocked with over 500 books on our frontier state, livestock was housed in the hold and scientists were provided with space for research. The expedition departed from New York’s Grand Central Station, travelling to Seattle by rail. I loved this description of their luggage: “an organ, a piano, canvas tents, hunting gear, traps, art supplies, a lantern slide projector, a gramophone, food and fresh water.” Proof that there have always been people who pack more than I do!

College Fjord is between Whittier and Valdez, you enter from Prince William Sound. The expedition members named six of the glaciers on the left after 19th century women’s colleges (that really surprised me!) and four of those on the right after men’s colleges. Harvard Glacier is still advancing, while Yale is retreating, as are an estimated 90% of Alaska’s glaciers. No one seems quite sure why Princeton was snubbed.

Though we had a great time in the ports, to us, the glacier days and the Inside Passage were what our trip was all about.

LIBRARY

The library/internet center/café/card room was one of my favorite places on the ship. Combining all of this makes sense to me: instead of separate facilities tucked away in odd corners, it becomes a lively central place near the casino with people wandering in and out, reading, browsing the DVDs, checking their email and having a coffee. In addition to the library books on offer, there were also shelves full of “trade ins:” you drop off a book you’ve finished and take one you haven’t.

NORTHERN LIGHTS (AURORA BOREALIS)

Seeing the Aurora Borealis is right up there with the Pyramids on my “bucket list,” (the list of things I want to see before I kick the bucket). Their source is solar wind and scientific stuff too complicated for me. The Northern Lights are beautiful fluctuating curtains of color most easily seen on clear dark nights—something hard to find when the sun is up for 18-21 hours, the sky is frequently thick with cloud cover and the cruise ship is lit up like New York City! I knew that getting the right set of circumstances—darkness, no clouds, and a dark place on deck—was out of my control, but I left my name at the front desk just in case. Each night when we went to bed I made sure my clothes, hat, gloves and video camera were stacked and ready in case I got the call. Unfortunately, the night we had the best chance of seeing it—near Seward when there was a New Moon—the sky was completely overcast! Oh, well, it’s a great reason to go back to Alaska again!

SHOPPING AT SEA

The four onboard shops are just what you’d expect and offered the usual Lido Deck T shirt sales, gold by the inch, duty free liquor, etc. If you are an information and map nut like I am, I’d highly recommend the $20 “Alaska Cruise Handbook, a Mile-by-Mile Guide” by Joe Lipton. During the Captain’s announcements, he tells you which mile to look at in the book and I had fun keeping track of our progress and reading about the area. If the sundries area doesn’t have what you need, there’s a Wal-Mart in Ketchikan, a Safeway in Seward and an IGA supermarket in Haines.

POOLS & HOT TUBS

I have arthritis in my hands and feet and use our spa at home all the time. It was very weird on Azamara Journey when I was told they have a “policy” of not heating their spas and thalassotherapy pool! Frankly, I didn’t believe them and suspected they were just broken. I’m happy to report that Zaandam’s are nice and hot. They’re open most days from 0900 to 2200 and the pools are open 0700-1900. My partner had a great time on the Glacier Bay day doing the “Polar Bear Swim” in the aft outdoor heated pool. She was quite proud of her certificate!

DISEMBARKATION

We used the Signature Express Baggage Service which got us our boarding passes before leaving the ship and sent our luggage straight to the airport. We’d planned to spend a little time in Vancouver before heading to the airport. However, at the last minute we changed our minds and booked the ship’s bus transfer. BIG MISTAKE! It took 3 hours from the time we reported to the lounge until we arrived at the airport and cost us twice as much as a 30 minute taxi ride would have. It was also frustrating that once you arrive at the airport you are trapped in the departure area. There’s no way out unless an airline employee escorts you out. I’d recommend using the $16 per person baggage service and making your own way to the airport.

CONCLUSION

We had a wonderful time—one of our best vacations ever. I’d say that Zaandam surpassed Celebrity in service but Celebrity beat HAL in quality of food, the ship has a warmer and more welcoming atmosphere than the other ships we’ve been on and falls down only in the live entertainment area. Zaandam was our first medium sized ship (Journey is small, Infinity and Conquest large) and we loved its manageable size. The only place we always encountered lines was in the Lido buffet and they moved along fairly quickly. This was our first “back to back” cruise and we enjoyed the repeat ports. The one flaw in the itinerary is having two At Sea Days for Glacier cruising followed by the stop in Seward where one way passengers got on and off, followed immediately by two more Glacier cruising days. We love At Sea Days but four out of five in a row was a bit much even for us. Overall, we loved Zaandam and would sail on her again with the right itinerary. However, we like the wider variety of activities we get on a large ship and that will probably be our first choice in the future.

 

[sailorsquirrel]

Thanks for the detailed review. I will be on the Zaandam in November. Do you have any photos of your inside cabin? We also have an inside cabin and would love to see what it looks like.

[RedmondCruiser]

Thank you for the extensive review. The price in the Pinnacle is supposed to be $20 for dinner and $10 for lunch but you state 30 & 15. Did the prices go up again ?

[waiting2retire]

Thank you so much for your very detailed review! I will be doing a b2b on the Statendam in Alaska in August, and really appreciate all the details you included in your report. I sailed the Zaandam to Hawaii two years ago and also loved my oceanview cabin on the Lower Promenade deck.

 

I'm off now to read your ports of call reviews :)

 

Bonnie

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for your detailed review.

 

Enjoyed it.

[JULGAVIN]

Sorry, we actually had an obstructed ocean view.

[JULGAVIN]

That's what I had in my notes but since we were actually treated to lunch at the Pinnacle due to a mishap on one of our excursions, I can't check our bill and could be wrong.

[sail-a-bration]

Julgavin, your review maybe the best I have read. Even though I am going on the Westerdam, I imagine it will be a similar experience and thanks to your wonderfully detailed review I think I am ready to go. I am glad you mentioned the debarkation wait if you book the HAL transfer because we are going to use the signiture express, but we want to see some of Seattle so we will do a taxi. Thanks again I loved your review.

[Lady Chew]

thank you for going into so many of the little details. SIL and I are hoping to cruise Zaandam to Hawaii next April, and you've answered many of our questions about what to expect onboard!