Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

tell me it isn't so, what a buzz kill

cruisun

By cruisun,
in Holland America Line

Recommended Posts

cruisun

cruisun

Posted
Posted

:confused:Tomorrow our final payment is due for our circle Hawaii cruise on the Zaandam. In my excitement I decided to read some new cruise critic reviews on the Zaandam. Ok, I know everyones experiences are different and have read varied opinions on the Zaandam in the past. Tonight there were several new negative reviews on this ship from its most recent sailing. Overall opinions being that the ship is tired, food is average and the air conditioning is spotty at best. We love the itenerary for this sailing and kept coming back to it in spite of the "varied" opinions on the Zaandam. Any cruise critic friends who could please tell me some positive things for Zaandam or should we reconsider this sailing??:confused::confused:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jhannah

jhannah

Posted
Posted

It's been a few years since we were on the Zaandam, but we really enjoyed the ship. Food was great and the ship was in good shape.

 

Reviews must be taken with a grain of salt. Whether they gush or grouse, they are just the feeling of the reviewer at the time. I've seen so many times how two people write reviews of the same cruise and it's hard to believe they were on the same ship. If someone wrote how they got an umpteen-category upgrade on the Floatingdam, I can't expect to get the same thing if I book the ship. Same with someone who had some bumps in the road on their cruise.

 

Go and enjoy the Zaandam, the leisurely sea days, and the beautiful Hawaiian Islands.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
simplelife

simplelife

Posted
Posted

Cruisun, IMO Jim's advice is right on the money. I've read lots of review boards, about all sorts of goods and services, and have found that whatever the topic, reviews will generally come from those who are awestruck or those who have an ax to grind. Unless there is a consistent pattern that's borne out by all the reviews, I don't pay them much mind.

Have a great time on your cruise! :D

 

Jim. how is the recovery going? Continued prayers are with you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Stevesan

Stevesan

Posted
Posted

Four of this year's fifteen Zaandam reviews gave 3 out of 5 stars.

That's an "average" rating. No major gripes, mostly subjective type that can be found on any HAL ship - too many gray hairs,

eithrer the cruise director or the crew were unfriendly, food "only" ok to great

 

the eleven other reviews were either 5 or 5+.

 

No worries - go and have fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
HamOp

HamOp

Posted
Posted

Remember, it's a Holland America ship. Just how bad could it be?

 

Go and have a wonderful time. If you can't bring yourself to go, email me and we'll make arrangements for you to transfer the tickets to me!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DesertDogs

DesertDogs

Posted
Posted

We sailed on the 23 Oct 08 Zaandam Circle Hawaii Cruise and our experience was totally different than those reviews. The only thing in common that we noticed was the age of the passengers but we also expected an older crowd and not a problem.

 

We found the staff to be excellent and the ship is in good shape. I did not see any major issues. Staff were always cleaning.

 

Food is subjective so I will let you decide. The omelets in the Lido were excellent!

 

I must agree that the singers in the shows were not very good but we are not show people so did not bother us. Some of the other shows were good, especially the The Three Tenors! We heard no complaints about Lizabeth the CD. I thought she was nice but we never had any interaction with her.

 

Go, and enjoy the cruise and don't worry about what others think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
twinkletoes4445

twinkletoes4445

Posted
Posted

We've only cruised twice, but both those times (especially the first one), I worried if I'd made the right choice after reading so many negative reviews. But at that point there was not much we could do, so we went on the cruises. Turns out, we had a great time on the first cruise (Carnival) and had a WONDERFUL time on HAL. In fact, our HAL cruise on the Zuiderdam was probably our most enjoyable vacation ever...and I'd ready many negative things about that cruise. We're coming up on our next HAL cruise and while I read many negative reviews about the Noordam, but we're going to go on the cruise knowing that we're going to have a good time.

 

Have a wonderful time on your cruise! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruisun

cruisun

Posted
  • Author
Posted
We've only cruised twice, but both those times (especially the first one), I worried if I'd made the right choice after reading so many negative reviews. But at that point there was not much we could do, so we went on the cruises. Turns out, we had a great time on the first cruise (Carnival) and had a WONDERFUL time on HAL. In fact, our HAL cruise on the Zuiderdam was probably our most enjoyable vacation ever...and I'd ready many negative things about that cruise. We're coming up on our next HAL cruise and while I read many negative reviews about the Noordam, but we're going to go on the cruise knowing that we're going to have a good time.

 

Have a wonderful time on your cruise! :)

 

Interesting, the Noordam is our favorite HAL ship so far!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruisun

cruisun

Posted
  • Author
Posted
We found nothing wrong with the ship, other than the fact that the air conditioning was on too much. The Queen's room for example was always very cold, and the theater as I recall was somewhat chilly.

 

john

 

Also very interesting....one of my major concerns about the negative reviews was the complaints that the Air Conditioning did not work:cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Loreto

Loreto

Posted
Posted

We have cruised the Zaandam twice and loved her! A number of years ago we were booked on the old Noordam (2003). I read reviews on CC but did not belong. All the reviews were negative, and I got a bad feeling about CC members in general. We went on our "Gems of the Baltic" cruise, and LOVED the old Noordam. It still is one of our most memorable cruises.

 

Last year I did join CC and found more positive than negative attitudes! As other posters have said, it's your cruise, and opinions vary wildly, so don't be deterred by negative reviews. Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Karen

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sassyredhat

sassyredhat

Posted
Posted
We sailed on the 23 Oct 08 Zaandam Circle Hawaii Cruise and our experience was totally different than those reviews. The only thing in common that we noticed was the age of the passengers but we also expected an older crowd and not a problem.

 

We found the staff to be excellent and the ship is in good shape. I did not see any major issues. Staff were always cleaning.

 

Food is subjective so I will let you decide. The omelets in the Lido were excellent!

 

I must agree that the singers in the shows were not very good but we are not show people so did not bother us. Some of the other shows were good, especially the The Three Tenors! We heard no complaints about Lizabeth the CD. I thought she was nice but we never had any interaction with her.

Go, and enjoy the cruise and don't worry about what others think.

 

We agree with DesertDogs. :)

 

We sailed in April 2008, and we liked the food--AC had no problems--cabins, service, beds--great.

 

You will enjoy this cruise.

 

Pat

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wingit

wingit

Posted
Posted
:confused:Tomorrow our final payment is due for our circle Hawaii cruise on the Zaandam. In my excitement I decided to read some new cruise critic reviews on the Zaandam. Ok, I know everyones experiences are different and have read varied opinions on the Zaandam in the past. Tonight there were several new negative reviews on this ship from its most recent sailing. Overall opinions being that the ship is tired, food is average and the air conditioning is spotty at best. We love the itenerary for this sailing and kept coming back to it in spite of the "varied" opinions on the Zaandam. Any cruise critic friends who could please tell me some positive things for Zaandam or should we reconsider this sailing??:confused::confused:

Fear not, cruisun. We just got off the Zaandam this morning and are now back home in AZ. We had a FABULOUS time. Beautiful ship, fantastic crew, good food, comfortable beds and very enjoyable itinerary. Once we get settled in here at home, I may write a short review, but suffice to say that it was our favorite cruise so far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kryos

kryos

Posted
Posted
Reviews must be taken with a grain of salt. Whether they gush or grouse, they are just the feeling of the reviewer at the time. I've seen so many times how two people write reviews of the same cruise and it's hard to believe they were on the same ship.

I agree with you 110%.

 

Writing a review is a very subjective thing and it all depends on the personal style of the reviewer. That's why it's so important to read lots of different reviews, if you can find them, in order to attempt to get a more "balanced" opinion. I know that on my last cruise a lot of folks were saying that food quality had declined since their last sailing on HAL. But, to me ... food was never an important issue, so I honestly didn't notice that and made no real mention of it in my review. I'm an easy-to-please person and perhaps because of that, my review was overall favorable. My main beef was about the length of time dinners were taking in the dining room. To me, they were taking too long. But that's me. Others made no mention of that whatsoever, perhaps because they like long, leisurely dinners while I don't. Yet those other people may have had issues with other things that I didn't even notice, because those things didn't bother me.

 

It all depends on the reviewer, their personal tastes, the type of person they are, and what it takes to please them ... and their review will reflect that. And, that is exactly why reader reviews are so important. We get the expressed feelings of a lot of people to consider when we are planning our own cruises, and that can only be helpful.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...