Back From Alaska Zaandam May 29-June 5 Cruise

[duck tune]

DH and I are back home and I'm unpacking but wanted to mention a couple of items related to the cruise for anyone interested.

We were fortunate to have 100% sunny weather - actually got a sunburn in Ketchikan! On arrival in Seattle today the skies were cloudy and it was much cooler than a week ago.

Passengers were not allowed off the ship in Victoria last night until 7:45 p.m. and the evening whale watching shore excursion was cancelled as a result (100% refund). DH and I stayed on the ship to relax and get to bed early.

We selected expedited disembarkation which meant we were the first group off the ship and took all of our luggage. We were surprised how many elected to do that! We go off about 7:50 a.m. and got through the terminal fairly fast and out to meet our prearranged towncar. We were at the airport by 8:30 a.m. Our driver did say that things back up very quickly once the first run of taxis leave. If anyone wants the name of an excellent limo driver I'd be happy to share.

We did room service for breakfast this a.m. and it was ordered for between 6 -6:30 a.m. and was delivered at 5:30 a.m. That happened twice to us - our breakfast came early so just be prepared! Also, the complimentary fresh fruit that they have in the cabins will be removed when you go to dinner the night before disembarkation so if you want some with breakfast grab it and put it in a drawer. You cannot take fruit off of the ship but DH and I wanted a banana and apple with our breakfast so I remembered to save one of each before going to dinner!

All in all the cruise was very relaxing. The ship does need some time in dry dock to get a "face lift" in the cabins and some of the common areas. A lot of the staff that we had are nearing the end of their contracts so new people will be coming on board over the next few weeks. We were invited to participate in a Q and A forum on Thursday afternoon and that was very interesting.

The Mariner Brunch was held at 11:30 a.m. yesterday (Thursday) and was excellent. Tiles are given out at the Brunch.

We ate in the Pinnacle Grill for dinner twice. We were assigned As You Wish Dining because I booked the cruise 11 days before sailing. We ate in the Dining room 3 times and the Lido twice for dinner. The Lido was busier than they expected on the Master Chef Dinner night (Wednesday) so it was a bit hectic. The same food was available at dinner in the Lido that was served in the dining room. The Dining Room was not open for lunch on embarkation day - just the Lido.

The swimming pools were very busy the entire cruise because of the excellent weather. Sunburns were common too. In Sitka and Ketchikan the people were concerned about the "heat wave" they were having. It was also beautiful at the glacier.

Photographs are no longer taken when you get off the ship in the various ports. When paying for a photo the photographer told me they could not do that anymore so they do take more photos around the ship but we never were approached during dinner on formal night and that was a first for us!

If anyone has specific questions let me know and I'll be happy to answer as quickly as possible.

[rubytue]

Sounds like a great cruise with great weather :) Lucky! Then again, we only had rain in Sitka (and we have the exact same weather today - 62 and raining all day in Maryland).

So this is 4 cruises in a row docking between 7:30 and 8, for a port sold as a 6pm arrival :( Big bummer. I just don't think they are going to make Victoria all summer. Alas.

[3sistersact]

[quote=duck tune;19845458]DH and I are back home and I'm unpacking but wanted to mention a couple of items related to the cruise for anyone interested.

We were fortunate to have 100% sunny weather - actually got a sunburn in Ketchikan! On arrival in Seattle today the skies were cloudy and it was much cooler than a week ago.

Passengers were not allowed off the ship in Victoria last night until 7:45 p.m. and the evening whale watching shore excursion was cancelled as a result (100% refund). DH and I stayed on the ship to relax and get to bed early.



We selected expedited disembarkation which meant we were the first group off the ship and took all of our luggage. We were surprised how many elected to do that! We go off about 7:50 a.m. and got through the terminal fairly fast and out to meet our prearranged towncar. We were at the airport by 8:30 a.m. Our driver did say that things back up very quickly once the first run of taxis leave. If anyone wants the name of an excellent limo driver I'd be happy to share.

We did room service for breakfast this a.m. and it was ordered for between 6 -6:30 a.m. and was delivered at 5:30 a.m. That happened twice to us - our breakfast came early so just be prepared! Also, the complimentary fresh fruit that they have in the cabins will be removed when you go to dinner the night before disembarkation so if you want some with breakfast grab it and put it in a drawer. You cannot take fruit off of the ship but DH and I wanted a banana and apple with our breakfast so I remembered to save one of each before going to dinner!

All in all the cruise was very relaxing. The ship does need some time in dry dock to get a "face lift" in the cabins and some of the common areas. A lot of the staff that we had are nearing the end of their contracts so new people will be coming on board over the next few weeks. We were invited to participate in a Q and A forum on Thursday afternoon and that was very interesting.

The Mariner Brunch was held at 11:30 a.m. yesterday (Thursday) and was excellent. Tiles are given out at the Brunch.

We ate in the Pinnacle Grill for dinner twice. We were assigned As You Wish Dining because I booked the cruise 11 days before sailing. We ate in the Dining room 3 times and the Lido twice for dinner. The Lido was busier than they expected on the Master Chef Dinner night (Wednesday) so it was a bit hectic. The same food was available at dinner in the Lido that was served in the dining room. The Dining Room was not open for lunch on embarkation day - just the Lido.

The swimming pools were very busy the entire cruise because of the excellent weather. Sunburns were common too. In Sitka and Ketchikan the people were concerned about the "heat wave" they were having. It was also beautiful at the glacier.

Photographs are no longer taken when you get off the ship in the various ports. When paying for a photo the photographer told me they could not do that anymore so they do take more photos around the ship but we never were approached during dinner on formal night and that was a first for us!

If anyone has specific questions let me know and I'll be happy to answer as quickly as possible.[/quote



I'm glad disembarking was so easy for you. We have a group of six who need to get to the airport by 9:30am and will be getting off with their luggage. Which town car did you use and who was your driver? Were you at Pier 91? Thanks!

[duck tune]

I'm glad disembarking was so easy for you. We have a group of six who need to get to the airport by 9:30am and will be getting off with their luggage. Which town car did you use and who was your driver? Were you at Pier 91? Thanks![/quote]

Yes we were at Pier 91 and we booked our driver in advance for all three legs - airport to hotel, hotel to Pier 91 and Pier 91 to airport. Very reliable, on time, excellent. Sonny at A1 Airport Limosine Services (206)399-1261 (cell). Tell him how many in your party, ask him to quote the price for your party and remember that the price he gives does not include a tip. We have used him before on prior trips to Seattle and highly recommend him.

[FloridaAdGuy]

Thank you so much, ducktune, for your excellent reporting all week. A sunburn in Ketchikan? Wow...that's definitely a rare souvenir!! I'm glad you had the same great weather that we've all experienced over the past few cruises on the Zaandam. It looks like that is now changing! :eek:

Also, thanks for reporting your arrival time in Victoria. As rubytue mentioned, it's doubtful that they'll ever come close to the promised 6:00pm arrival time so I hope people understand that private tours may be in jeapordy!

I agree with all of your statements about the Zaandam. It was a "good not great" cruise for us. Glad we took it but probably wouldn't repeat it. Again, thanks for sharing your experiences!

[duck tune]

Thank you FloridaAdGuy for your nice comments. DH and I had sailed on the Zaandam before and it was a year since our last cruise on the Veendam and we had such "great" experiences on those cruises that we were surprised to see some changes that result in a less than great cruise. For example, we did not meet our cabin steward until very late evening the first day. Our luggage did not get to our room until almost 5:30 p.m. The room was not made up by 12:30 a.m. the day at sea and DH actually called and asked someone to make up the room. We were charged for drinks from the minibar that must have been used by the passenger. I asked for bottled water and was told I had to order it from Room Service. Things we had prepaid and ordered were not delivered to the cabin and had to be followed up on and there were issues with the toilet more than half of the cruise.

The night before we arrived in Sitka I noticed that the ship was not moving, and after about an hour DH called the front desk and asked why the ship wasn't moving and was told "We ARE moving!". Now, I know when we are moving and when we aren't and we weren't moving at all. We came to the conclusion that we were simply waiting a few hours since we were only 66 miles from Sitka and knew that the captain wouldn't be going through the channel during the dark. Why not simply say that to those who ask?

We were actually invited by the Hotel Manager to participate in a Q and A in the Piano Bar where they wanted to have input. The Hotel Manager could not come so the Cruise Director, a Shore Excursion representative and a Guest Relations person were present to "report to Corporate". There were two 500 day HAL cruisers and a travel agent with over 47 cruises under his belt present among the 15 or so people who attended and most of the comments were not positive! It seemed that the Cruise Director did not want to hear the "constructive feedback" but it was obvious that some of the long time cruisers felt things were not as good as they had been in the past. It was very interesting so time will tell if things improve.

We always try to make the best of each cruise and have learned how to deal with toilet malfunctions and to ask for shampoo if it doesn't appear and to make trips to the front office as needed but it didn't used to be this way.

As for the Victoria situation, I think the time spent there is way too short and when the ship arrives late and cuts that time even more why bother to arrange shore excursions? At the Seattle airport I stood in line to board the airplane home next to a man who had been on the Celebrity Infinity that was docked in Victoria when we arrived. He said they had 8 hours in Victoria and he thought that was too short!

Yes, I would be very cautious arranging independent excursions in Victoria because the ship may or may not dock on time!

On a final note, the morning of disembarkation we received a letter under the cabin door saying that a few crewmembers had reported to the Medical Center with flu like symptoms and that all were tested for the H1N1 (Swine) flu. Some tested negative and some tested postive. CDC and the Canada Health Agency had been notified. One passenger reported to the Medical Center with flu symptoms on Wednesday. The letter simply informed us that if we developed any flu like symptoms after we returned home that we should see our physician. I personally did not see any ill crewmembers or passengers but I do encourage good handwashing and using the hand sanitizers!

[FloridaAdGuy]

On a final note, the morning of disembarkation we received a letter under the cabin door saying that a few crewmembers had reported to the Medical Center with flu like symptoms and that all were tested for the H1N1 (Swine) flu. Some tested negative and some tested postive. CDC and the Canada Health Agency had been notified. One passenger reported to the Medical Center with flu symptoms on Wednesday. The letter simply informed us that if we developed any flu like symptoms after we returned home that we should see our physician. I personally did not see any ill crewmembers or passengers but I do encourage good handwashing and using the hand sanitizers!

Very interesting on the Q&A situation. This was our first cruise with HAL and frankly it fell short of our expectations. Not to say we wouldn't cruise with Holland America again but we don't have the same undying level of brand loyalty that many have on this board. I noticed you've cruised with NCL. We've cruised with them twice. How would you compare your cruise on the Zaandam to your cruise on the NCL Star? We've been on the NCL Sun which I believe is a similar vessel.

Also, that's amazing that crew members were testing positive for the H1N1 Swine flu. I hadn't realized the Zaandam had been affected! :eek:

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

[duck tune]

Very interesting on the Q&A situation. This was our first cruise with HAL and frankly it fell short of our expectations. Not to say we wouldn't cruise with Holland America again but we don't have the same undying level of brand loyalty that many have on this board. I noticed you've cruised with NCL. We've cruised with them twice. How would you compare your cruise on the Zaandam to your cruise on the NCL Star? We've been on the NCL Sun which I believe is a similar vessel.

Also, that's amazing that crew members were testing positive for the H1N1 Swine flu. I hadn't realized the Zaandam had been affected! :eek:

DH and I both enjoyed all three NCL cruises - The Sky (that was our very first cruise ever), the Spirit and the Star. We had a balcony the first two times and received an upsell to an aft suite on the Star which was fabulous. The Star cruise was much better than the most recent Zaandam, without a doubt. We enjoyed being able to dine in several venues and the dining room was open for lunch when we boarded the ship which made for an excellent, relaxed lunch. The staff was excellent, the ports of call great and the activities offered were just as good if not better. DH actually won at Bingo several times on NCL and not on HAL. Probably the only difference we noticed was that the Internet area on the Star was not as user friendly as the Zaandam but even on the Zaandam this time there were periods when the service was down and not available. We never once saw the Internet Manager on the Zaandam and the librarian on the Zaandam was no help to those who were simply trying to print airline boarding passes. Yes, there was a coffee bar available on the Star to get Lattes too.

I guess the best response to your question can be summed up this way: I asked DH if he wanted to book another HAL cruise while on board the Zaandam to get the onboard credits and his response was "I think I'd like to do NCL again first".

Regarding the N1N1 flu situation I would guess that the crew members who tested positive were exposed to the flu at the end of the cruise prior to ours or within a day or so of when our cruise began. I know that even though passengers are required to fill out the health questionaire when checking in people who are sick sometimes are not honest with their answers. This happened on a prior cruise we took where nororvirus was a problem and people brought the virus onboard with them becuase they did not want to cancel the cruise. I'm just grateful that we did not have any problems or end up held for observation! We were never in Code Red and had no indication that Code Red had been in place on the prior cruise.

[FloridaAdGuy]

Thanks ducktune for your thorough and honest answers...we feel the same way and will likely lean towards NCL before taking another HAL cruise. Not that we will boycott HAL...just didn't live up to expectations. Fortunately, we live in Florida and have several ports (Jacksonville, Tampa, Cape Canaveral, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami) within driving distance so the possibilities are endless. Hopefully, someday we'll have the honor of cruising with you both...again, thanks for all your helpful information.

[duck tune]

Thank you FloridaAdGuy for your input. I am certainly not giving up on HAL but would like to see some of the good things that used to happen return. I would love to get DH to go on a cruise from Florida so I'll keep working on that angle. I think that it's great that you have so many options available to you. Who knows maybe we will be able to meet up on a cruise sometime soon!