Quick review Zaandam June 5- 12

[slewiss1]

We are a family of 3. Myself and DH (in our 40's) and our 16year old DS.

Thanks to folks here on HAL board we planned our arrival to pier 91
with Already There Town Cars for $60 (1 way) from seatac, same as cab
(425-445-9101)

Easy Embark
We loved the Neptune Lounge! Great iced tea & snacks!
Nette was so friendly and helpful!
Loved our room stewards!
Ullysys in the Rotterdam was perfect, always offering extra appetizers
and deserts (we were late fixed seating)

No exageration on the need for dramamine on first sea day!!
I am a light sleeper and the rough open seas kept me awake..my DH and DS slept like babies through it all:) Also, the first night the Captain announced the clocks would be set an hour backwards that night. At 2:00 AM..an annoying SQUEAK-SQUEAK sound (for at least 2 minutes)of our suite's clock being turned backwards.
Again...I'm wide awake...the men just snoozed on..:rolleyes:


Our favorite part of the cruise was sitting in the hot-tub while cruising through the glacier!

I had the in port special (included time in thermal suite) at the greenhouse spa.
My DH tried the accupuncture...:D..perhaps he'll try it on land.

Magician -comedian was wonderful..and his little dog, too!

The only negative of the whole trip was the other pax smoking on balconies.
We invested in a deluxe verandah suite so our son could really see
the glacier (he loved all the seals!!)
but my DH is so sensitive to smoke he couldn't stay out there for very long.
So we ended up going to the hot-tubs!

In the survey at the end of cruise, a section on smoking policy was included. The only way we'll sail HAL again w/verandah is if they adopt
no smoking policy...

Disembark was easy...
We asked for, and were able to borrow a scale to weigh our luggage (keep it under 50 lbs) night before
8:00am walked off ship...our towncar was there waiting

Now, about the mess at the airport:mad: :eek:
but that is for another board!! UNITED

Debra

[Nutbunch]

We are sailing on July 3rd. Thanks for taking the time to post your review. It really has perked me up for this cruise!!

[rjm1cc]

My wife use to smoke and could not see why the rest of the family would complain. She has not smoked in years and is now very senitive to smoking. At lot more than I am.
Maybe you can set up a poll on smoking. Probably best to have a section of cabins smoking and the rest non smoking.

[Susie51]

I'm so sorry the smoke ruined the balcony experience for your husband. Having one side of the ship dedicated to non smoking would be nice so that the smoke wouldn't adversely affect other pax.

[suse]

Smoking! I find it ridiculous but hey, it's legal. Gross, but legal. Totally understand, though. We have this really great friend and he smokes alot. You know, one of those things. It's like, hey Joe, you trying to kill yourself or what? Ugh. But he's a Vietnam vet and crazy enough so we try not to antagonize him.

[slewiss1]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I doubt my DH will be on a HAL verandah again unless it is non-smoking.

[suse]

Yeah, I don't want to be militant about it (because I would be very boring) but you are right! We were in these ritzy non-smoking, they said, resorts, recently in Puerto Rico, but the minute you stepped outside the hotel door, WHAM, right in your face. Ick. It's a really hard subject, say, for alot of people. Addicts. It's not easy for them. I never would say anything, but I feel sad for them. Who among us is perfect, really?

[koolforkatz]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. We're sailing on the Zaandam in October and have never been on that ship.

Too bad about your balcony, though :( We've been lucky to date with balconies but I can imagine how it could limit the use of your balcony if you were sensitive to smoke.

[lmt1022]

We were also on the same cruise in a deluxe veranda. We never had any problems with cigarette smoke but, a few times I smelled something else. I was out on the balcony with my daughter and I commented that "I think I smell... well, something like a skunk."
My daughter started laughing and said "No, Mom, that is weed." How she knew this I do not want to know :confused: She said if you smell it once, you'll never forget the smell. So, I called my sister out to the balcony (who MAY have had some experience with this in college ;)) and she said it was "definately weed." Ha!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for your report.

We have been filling out those smoking questionaires for 3 years now -- and very little has been done about it.

We have experienced some smokers on the verandahs next to us as well on cruises and were forced inside. Even mentioned it on the form at the end of the cruise.

[johnlcruise]

We got off the Zaandam the day you got on.
Was the weather as nice as we had it all that week. The temp was near 80 at all our stops. Not a cloud in the sky all week. What a great cruise we had. Super crew and a great ship, easy to get around on.

[slewiss1]

Yes, the weather was gorgeous! In the 80's.
But this was a problem when we went fishing in Ketchikan...
seems king salmon don't bite in nice weather..only cold & rainy...:rolleyes:

[Mary Ellen]

I'm sorry about the bad experience with the balcony. This is a problem with HAL. We have the opportunity to upgrade to a S suite (for a reasonable sum) on our next cruise. It is the fear of our potential neighbors smoking that is keeping us from jumping at it.

[slewiss1]

Prior to this experience, I would have upgraded.
But if you are extremely sensitive to smoke..decline:(