Memorial Day Week Cruise on HAL Zaandam

[rubytue]

I have a full review on the HAL board: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=997641

 

Short summary: weather was good, no rain except in Sitka. Had a mixed feelings on excursions, some were great, one was disappointing.

 

Most disappointing is that HAL seems to have gotten rid of their on board naturalists :( For those that booked HAL for later this summer, if the naturalist is a priority for you, I strongly suggest you research this more.

 

Also, it seems the Zaandam's schedule means they won't be making Victoria on time. It was sold as a 6pm arrival, upon boarding, we were told it was a 7pm arrival. So far, the past 3 cruises have docked around 8. On our cruise, we were doing 22.9 knots (i.e. full speed) all the way from Ketchikan and were still late.