Brown Eyed Gurl
April 6th, 2006, 04:55 PM
I just returned home 2 days ago from the 10 day Panama Canal Sunfarer Cruise on the Ms Zaandam, and wanted to share a perspective from perhaps a different point of view (DH & I are 32 -and were by far the youngest couple on the ship), we are Vegetarians, and do not drink alcohol, smoke, or care for a loud, obnoxious party vacation. This was our very first (honeymoon) cruise, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I have read these boards thoroughly and my in-laws took a HAL cruise not to long ago and we viewed their film from it, so I knew what to expect.
Overall, we both loved the cruise, the ship, the staff, the food, the music, and will sail on HAL again! :)
We did an air/cruise package with a pre-night at the Marriott Hollywood Beach (which was luxurious). The flights we had to FL were simply the best I had ever been on-they were smooth, all were early, all staff was friendly and in a great mood. Only the last flight coming home was late by 20 mins.
We were on the Main Deck, midship, outside stateroom. The room seemed very small compared to the Hotel we were just at (and the decor rather dated), but once we got used to it, it was fine. The bathroom & medicine chest was rather spacious. I can say I will never do an outside room again, once the sun beats down on the window, it heats up the room, therefore we never opened our curtains. There is only one outlet in the room by the desk/vanity, none in the bathroom, and no alarm clock, so bring an extension cord and an alarm clock if you need them! Wake up calls are available, but I wouldn't expect them to be exact, we tried it once and it was off but 10 mins or so. Room Service also was never exact, some days we would mark 6-6:30am and they would come at 5:45am! Some days they were much later than the time marked.
I noticed maybe 1 or 2 other couples in their late 30's, a few in their 40's & 50's, most appeared to be in their 60's-90's. I did notice some lesbian couples (maybe 3?) and (at least 4 other) lesbian women, and two homosexual male couples. None of which were treated any differently, at least that I could tell. I bring this up only because I recall a post asking about gay couples on cruises, and how they are treated.
First off, some things that have changed...
1. Smoking is not allowed in any stateroom. Smoking is allowed only on any open air deck or verandah that has an ashtray or a designated smoking area sign! I was afraid I would get a room that had a previous smoker, since I have a very sensitive nose and sinuses, but we were told smoking is no longer allowed in any rooms and the only line now allowing this is Princess!
2. Soda cards are available for $18.75 for 20 sodas, no cans. Unlimited soda stickers are no longer sold, but any that were purchased over the phone or internet will still be honored.
3. Any ship that has went through the SOE upgrade has discountinued Dutch night. :( I was disappointed, as I heard many good things about Dutch night and wanted to experience it.
And now for the negatives...
-Upon embarkation I noticed a strong sewage smell that lingered on all floors. Luckily, it went away some time during the next day.
-We were not escorted or shown to our room, and once we found our general area/direction, a room steward only opened the door for us, he did not say a word, or offer to help carry in any of our 5 carry ons.
-The air conditioning was barely working in our stateroom. We called the front desk first thing and they said they already had 4 complaints on this from others. They did come in and fix it within the hour and our room steward brought us a stand up fan to use the entire cruise. They did call to check how it was the next day.
-The carpeting in our room was sticky the first day. There were no stains or anything visible, but our feet were sticking to the floor. It was cleaned the next day.
-There was mildew on the shower tiles and curtain. It was never removed, although the shower was visibly cleaned each day (handles polished, water wiped away, etc).
-I did notice alot of wear around the ship. In the Explorer's Lounge the chair arm rests were chipped, worn away, scratched. Carpeting around the ship was worn, some chair cushions were ripped, etc. It wasn't horrible, but it was noticeable.
-The Dolphin Bar/Lido Pool was extremely hot and smelled like vomit throughout the entire cruise. It was very strong and just horrible. We stayed away from that pool/bar and only walked through when we had to.
-The Lido (lunch) buffet had few options for Vegetarians. There was salad/lettuce and veggies, but more often than not, they were wilted looking and just not very fresh or tasty. As for entrees, they had few and none were marked Vegetarian. There was always one pasta dish, rice & veggies from the Asian station, and the sandwich station (which was wonderful!). The desserts were very bland and stale more often than not. I'd heard from my in-laws, and even read here, how great the bread pudding was, but we both found it bland, overly wet, and tasteless-we tried it two different days.
-Some of the shows in the Mondriaan Lounge. I wouldn't say they were bad, but they were kind of cheesy. I did enjoy the Captain's Champagne Reception, the Filipino Crew Show, the Quick Change Artist, the Passenger Show (don't recall what they called it) and the Crew Farewell. We missed the comedian. But the singers/dancers were just ok.
-One day partial power went out so none of the elevators were working. Luckily we didn't have a problem climbing 8 flights of stairs, but some that didn't have good mobility or those in wheelchairs were stuck wherever they were for over 1/2 a day and the air went off in part of the ship so it got really warm. We also heard a few people were stuck in an elevator for awhile.
The was also a problem with some of the elevators not working on another day. For 1/2 of the day only one elevator worked.
And for the positives....
-We both enjoyed how wonderful it was to have so few children and teens around! There were maybe a total of 5 children under age 10 that we saw and maybe 10-12 teens that we only saw a day or two.
-We loved the atmosphere. I loved the music/bands, the flowers, the art. The ship seemed like a floating museum! While there was some wear, the ship was still wonderful and I would have no problem sailing on the Zaandam again!
-I loved that there were so many areas and times of day when I could go to an area or room and feel like I had the entire place to myself. We found that every day around sunset, everyone would leave the lower promenade to get ready for dinner, so we'd have almost the entire deck to ourselves. We watched many sunsets, completed crosswords, read, or just relaxed! There were also a few times when we went into the Explorer's Lounge & Piano Bar and were the only ones there listening to music! It was great to feel you can disappear on a cruise ship!
-The Exploration Cafe-what great drinks they have! And for so much less than Starbucks! Most drinks were $1.75 for a Tall and $2 for a Grande, and with complimentary pastries! I really enjoyed their Iced Chai Latte.
-Dinner in the Rotterdam Dining Room. What a great Experience! We ate there every night except one. The food was remarkable! On a scale of 1-10, 10 being highest, for presentation I would rate it a 7 or 8, I have had better, but as for taste, I would rate it a 9 or 10! We are both Vegetarians and ate either the Vegetarian option or off the separate Vegetarian menu that is available (I will make a separate post about this under food/Vegetarian, listing all the items I recall, for those who would like to know what is available). There was only one soup (the Mango Gazpaucho) and one entree (Picatta of Vegetable) that I didn't care for (not that it wasn't good, just that I didn't care for it), all others were extremely good, including all the desserts! The Lido simply does not compare to the dining room! The dining room was so much better with everything! We ate at 8pm, upper, table for 2. The dining room staff went above and beyond anything I could imagine. Not only were they friendly, polite, well mannered, and kind, they seemed very interested in us (I assume because we were closer to their age? They spent alot of time talking with us, more so than any other table) and they asked us just as many questions about us, as we did them. They seemed to become friends rather than staff waiting on us. Our Head Waiter was Suki, our Waiter was Prima, our Drink Steward was JoJo, and our Assitant Waiter was Ali. They were all remarkable! We learned alot from them about their customs, their jobs, their homes and family. They really made our dining room experience pleasant! And Suki somehow would appear out of nowhere & find us every day in the Lido for lunch to ask if we needed anything or to make sure we got our drinks in a timely manner.
-The activities. I have read others complain about how there isn't enough to do on HAL, I totally disagree. It seemed to us there wasn't enough time to do all we wanted to while also participating in shore excursions. There always seemed to be board games, card games, bingo, casino tournaments, shows, trivia, raffles, contests, scavenger hunts, movies, demonstrations, classes, tours, etc going on. One thing I will say, I don't know how some of the people on the ship do it all. I would be dead tired come 10pm, and yet there were 20 or so passengers over 60 dancing during the 50s & 60s sock hop in the Crow's Nest @ 11pm!
-Room Service. Every morning but one we had room service for breakfast. They honored anything we requested that wasn't on the menu (except for one flavor of tea). How lovely it was to wake up to breakfast in bed every morning at the time of your choosing! I had read about complaints of runny eggs, well the first 3 days of ordering scrambled egg beaters, they were made to perfection, but after that they turned into a runny mess, so I stopped ordering them. I also noticed the one day spent in the Lido for breakfast they looked runny, but they did have a pan of well done eggs available. I must mention the Room Service Vegetarian Pizza is most delicious! They make it fresh when you call and it contains a sauce that is extremely sweet and a homemade crust!
-Our Room Steward, Kris was extremely friendly and helpful. Overall he did a great job. We loved the nightly towel animals!! How great it is to have your room made up twice a day, your bed turned down, and nightly chocolates! We sure felt spoiled!
-Even though we are not big gamblers and spent little time there, the casino was never crowded (well 2 nights it was, one a Saturday and the other an at sea day) and it was only smokey the one night.
-I rarely smelled smoke. There wasn't a lot of smokers on this cruise, that I could tell. There were always a few on the Lido by the Dolphin pool, but we stayed away, so it never was a problem. I only saw maybe 6 or so people smoking elsewhere (on the Lower Promenade & the Seaview Pool).
-The sandwich station in the Lido! I enjoyed freshly made veggie sandwiches almost everyday for lunch! I also liked that the Terrace Grill offered veggie burgers!
-I enjoyed every port for different reasons. HMC was simply beautiful! Even though the Zuiderdam was also visiting that day, it never felt overcrowded! Aruba was so diverse- the beaches amazing, the dessert striking, the north shore looked like another world. Curacao was charming, I enjoyed our tour, the colors, the shopping, but we were followed by at least 3 different people when we walked beyond the floating market and there were no other tourists around. The Panama Canal/Gatun Locks were interesting and we saw a crocodile in the Canal. Colon, Panama was eye opening and made us appreciate all that we have, we saw hundreds of butterflies. We both fell in love with Costa Rica. We had the best tour guide, Filander, and just loved the lush country side, the banana fields, the rain forrest, the friendly people. We saw a sloth, quati (sp?), lizards, butterflies, a chirping humingbird, huge spiders, hallucinogenic mushrooms, horned beetles the size of my fist, and a poison dart frog.
-I enjoyed our 3 formal nights (our itineraries said we only had 2, but there were 3! Luckily I packed for 3!). It was fun to dress up and see what others were wearing! I did not see any tieras on our cruise, and only saw one woman wearing a ball gown, all others were wearing cocktail dresses or fancy pantsuits. There were more suits than tuxes.
-I enjoyed the dinner chimes, the after dinner mints, the fresh flowers, the smiles given by all passing staff & passengers, the music, the piano bar sing alongs, the musicians playing during dinner, the amusing photographers (who did a great job!), the fabulous shore excursions & tour guides, ...I could go on and on!
I'm sure there are more positives I am forgetting about.
One thing I noticed, if you want to catch a movie at the theater but can't, they do play on your tv in your room the next day or so. Check the listings in the white book that holds the room service menus and they will be listed! In case any one was wondering what movies were played, they were:
Walk The Line
North Country
Yours Mine & Ours
Cheaper By The Dozen 2
The Legend of Zorro
Dreamer
The Greatest Game Ever Played
Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire
Aeon Flux
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
When I put the tv on late at night before going to bed Pretty Woman, The Constant Gardner, and The Island played several times during the cruise. The tv also had Animal Planet, TNT, CNN, Boomerang, and a few other channels in the early morning.
Also...we purchased the travel space bags, which included 2 big and 2 small bags that you pack your stuff in, then roll the air out, no vaccuum required. These worked extremely well! In one large bag I squeezed in 7 skirts, 6 tops, a shawl and some other items (fold, then roll, then shove in!). I would roll the bag a few times then kneel on it to get all the air out. I was able to pack all of my outfits for 10 days into 1 1/2 pilot cases!! I also put underwear and socks in a large ziplock bag and did the same thing. I did this with my husband's clothes too, including his suit, only one item, one of my formal dresses wrinkled. NOTHING else did! I will always pack this way! This was my first time using the travel space bags & ziplock bags, I highly recommend them. I was able to pack soo much in 2 pilot cases and one one regular suitcase for the both of us, that we never had to do laundry (I actually packed 2 full outfits to many for myself, that I never wore!)! We also packed 2 fanny packs, 2 money belts, a beach bag, alarm clock, extension cord, 2 rolls duct tape, night light, 2 books, 4 waterproof cameras, 4 disposable cameras, 1 APS camera, 1 digital camera, 1 camcorder, extra APS film, and a first aid kit with every kind of imaginable OTC med we might need. :D
Overall, we both loved the cruise, the ship, the staff, the food, the music, and will sail on HAL again! :)
We did an air/cruise package with a pre-night at the Marriott Hollywood Beach (which was luxurious). The flights we had to FL were simply the best I had ever been on-they were smooth, all were early, all staff was friendly and in a great mood. Only the last flight coming home was late by 20 mins.
We were on the Main Deck, midship, outside stateroom. The room seemed very small compared to the Hotel we were just at (and the decor rather dated), but once we got used to it, it was fine. The bathroom & medicine chest was rather spacious. I can say I will never do an outside room again, once the sun beats down on the window, it heats up the room, therefore we never opened our curtains. There is only one outlet in the room by the desk/vanity, none in the bathroom, and no alarm clock, so bring an extension cord and an alarm clock if you need them! Wake up calls are available, but I wouldn't expect them to be exact, we tried it once and it was off but 10 mins or so. Room Service also was never exact, some days we would mark 6-6:30am and they would come at 5:45am! Some days they were much later than the time marked.
I noticed maybe 1 or 2 other couples in their late 30's, a few in their 40's & 50's, most appeared to be in their 60's-90's. I did notice some lesbian couples (maybe 3?) and (at least 4 other) lesbian women, and two homosexual male couples. None of which were treated any differently, at least that I could tell. I bring this up only because I recall a post asking about gay couples on cruises, and how they are treated.
First off, some things that have changed...
1. Smoking is not allowed in any stateroom. Smoking is allowed only on any open air deck or verandah that has an ashtray or a designated smoking area sign! I was afraid I would get a room that had a previous smoker, since I have a very sensitive nose and sinuses, but we were told smoking is no longer allowed in any rooms and the only line now allowing this is Princess!
2. Soda cards are available for $18.75 for 20 sodas, no cans. Unlimited soda stickers are no longer sold, but any that were purchased over the phone or internet will still be honored.
3. Any ship that has went through the SOE upgrade has discountinued Dutch night. :( I was disappointed, as I heard many good things about Dutch night and wanted to experience it.
And now for the negatives...
-Upon embarkation I noticed a strong sewage smell that lingered on all floors. Luckily, it went away some time during the next day.
-We were not escorted or shown to our room, and once we found our general area/direction, a room steward only opened the door for us, he did not say a word, or offer to help carry in any of our 5 carry ons.
-The air conditioning was barely working in our stateroom. We called the front desk first thing and they said they already had 4 complaints on this from others. They did come in and fix it within the hour and our room steward brought us a stand up fan to use the entire cruise. They did call to check how it was the next day.
-The carpeting in our room was sticky the first day. There were no stains or anything visible, but our feet were sticking to the floor. It was cleaned the next day.
-There was mildew on the shower tiles and curtain. It was never removed, although the shower was visibly cleaned each day (handles polished, water wiped away, etc).
-I did notice alot of wear around the ship. In the Explorer's Lounge the chair arm rests were chipped, worn away, scratched. Carpeting around the ship was worn, some chair cushions were ripped, etc. It wasn't horrible, but it was noticeable.
-The Dolphin Bar/Lido Pool was extremely hot and smelled like vomit throughout the entire cruise. It was very strong and just horrible. We stayed away from that pool/bar and only walked through when we had to.
-The Lido (lunch) buffet had few options for Vegetarians. There was salad/lettuce and veggies, but more often than not, they were wilted looking and just not very fresh or tasty. As for entrees, they had few and none were marked Vegetarian. There was always one pasta dish, rice & veggies from the Asian station, and the sandwich station (which was wonderful!). The desserts were very bland and stale more often than not. I'd heard from my in-laws, and even read here, how great the bread pudding was, but we both found it bland, overly wet, and tasteless-we tried it two different days.
-Some of the shows in the Mondriaan Lounge. I wouldn't say they were bad, but they were kind of cheesy. I did enjoy the Captain's Champagne Reception, the Filipino Crew Show, the Quick Change Artist, the Passenger Show (don't recall what they called it) and the Crew Farewell. We missed the comedian. But the singers/dancers were just ok.
-One day partial power went out so none of the elevators were working. Luckily we didn't have a problem climbing 8 flights of stairs, but some that didn't have good mobility or those in wheelchairs were stuck wherever they were for over 1/2 a day and the air went off in part of the ship so it got really warm. We also heard a few people were stuck in an elevator for awhile.
The was also a problem with some of the elevators not working on another day. For 1/2 of the day only one elevator worked.
And for the positives....
-We both enjoyed how wonderful it was to have so few children and teens around! There were maybe a total of 5 children under age 10 that we saw and maybe 10-12 teens that we only saw a day or two.
-We loved the atmosphere. I loved the music/bands, the flowers, the art. The ship seemed like a floating museum! While there was some wear, the ship was still wonderful and I would have no problem sailing on the Zaandam again!
-I loved that there were so many areas and times of day when I could go to an area or room and feel like I had the entire place to myself. We found that every day around sunset, everyone would leave the lower promenade to get ready for dinner, so we'd have almost the entire deck to ourselves. We watched many sunsets, completed crosswords, read, or just relaxed! There were also a few times when we went into the Explorer's Lounge & Piano Bar and were the only ones there listening to music! It was great to feel you can disappear on a cruise ship!
-The Exploration Cafe-what great drinks they have! And for so much less than Starbucks! Most drinks were $1.75 for a Tall and $2 for a Grande, and with complimentary pastries! I really enjoyed their Iced Chai Latte.
-Dinner in the Rotterdam Dining Room. What a great Experience! We ate there every night except one. The food was remarkable! On a scale of 1-10, 10 being highest, for presentation I would rate it a 7 or 8, I have had better, but as for taste, I would rate it a 9 or 10! We are both Vegetarians and ate either the Vegetarian option or off the separate Vegetarian menu that is available (I will make a separate post about this under food/Vegetarian, listing all the items I recall, for those who would like to know what is available). There was only one soup (the Mango Gazpaucho) and one entree (Picatta of Vegetable) that I didn't care for (not that it wasn't good, just that I didn't care for it), all others were extremely good, including all the desserts! The Lido simply does not compare to the dining room! The dining room was so much better with everything! We ate at 8pm, upper, table for 2. The dining room staff went above and beyond anything I could imagine. Not only were they friendly, polite, well mannered, and kind, they seemed very interested in us (I assume because we were closer to their age? They spent alot of time talking with us, more so than any other table) and they asked us just as many questions about us, as we did them. They seemed to become friends rather than staff waiting on us. Our Head Waiter was Suki, our Waiter was Prima, our Drink Steward was JoJo, and our Assitant Waiter was Ali. They were all remarkable! We learned alot from them about their customs, their jobs, their homes and family. They really made our dining room experience pleasant! And Suki somehow would appear out of nowhere & find us every day in the Lido for lunch to ask if we needed anything or to make sure we got our drinks in a timely manner.
-The activities. I have read others complain about how there isn't enough to do on HAL, I totally disagree. It seemed to us there wasn't enough time to do all we wanted to while also participating in shore excursions. There always seemed to be board games, card games, bingo, casino tournaments, shows, trivia, raffles, contests, scavenger hunts, movies, demonstrations, classes, tours, etc going on. One thing I will say, I don't know how some of the people on the ship do it all. I would be dead tired come 10pm, and yet there were 20 or so passengers over 60 dancing during the 50s & 60s sock hop in the Crow's Nest @ 11pm!
-Room Service. Every morning but one we had room service for breakfast. They honored anything we requested that wasn't on the menu (except for one flavor of tea). How lovely it was to wake up to breakfast in bed every morning at the time of your choosing! I had read about complaints of runny eggs, well the first 3 days of ordering scrambled egg beaters, they were made to perfection, but after that they turned into a runny mess, so I stopped ordering them. I also noticed the one day spent in the Lido for breakfast they looked runny, but they did have a pan of well done eggs available. I must mention the Room Service Vegetarian Pizza is most delicious! They make it fresh when you call and it contains a sauce that is extremely sweet and a homemade crust!
-Our Room Steward, Kris was extremely friendly and helpful. Overall he did a great job. We loved the nightly towel animals!! How great it is to have your room made up twice a day, your bed turned down, and nightly chocolates! We sure felt spoiled!
-Even though we are not big gamblers and spent little time there, the casino was never crowded (well 2 nights it was, one a Saturday and the other an at sea day) and it was only smokey the one night.
-I rarely smelled smoke. There wasn't a lot of smokers on this cruise, that I could tell. There were always a few on the Lido by the Dolphin pool, but we stayed away, so it never was a problem. I only saw maybe 6 or so people smoking elsewhere (on the Lower Promenade & the Seaview Pool).
-The sandwich station in the Lido! I enjoyed freshly made veggie sandwiches almost everyday for lunch! I also liked that the Terrace Grill offered veggie burgers!
-I enjoyed every port for different reasons. HMC was simply beautiful! Even though the Zuiderdam was also visiting that day, it never felt overcrowded! Aruba was so diverse- the beaches amazing, the dessert striking, the north shore looked like another world. Curacao was charming, I enjoyed our tour, the colors, the shopping, but we were followed by at least 3 different people when we walked beyond the floating market and there were no other tourists around. The Panama Canal/Gatun Locks were interesting and we saw a crocodile in the Canal. Colon, Panama was eye opening and made us appreciate all that we have, we saw hundreds of butterflies. We both fell in love with Costa Rica. We had the best tour guide, Filander, and just loved the lush country side, the banana fields, the rain forrest, the friendly people. We saw a sloth, quati (sp?), lizards, butterflies, a chirping humingbird, huge spiders, hallucinogenic mushrooms, horned beetles the size of my fist, and a poison dart frog.
-I enjoyed our 3 formal nights (our itineraries said we only had 2, but there were 3! Luckily I packed for 3!). It was fun to dress up and see what others were wearing! I did not see any tieras on our cruise, and only saw one woman wearing a ball gown, all others were wearing cocktail dresses or fancy pantsuits. There were more suits than tuxes.
-I enjoyed the dinner chimes, the after dinner mints, the fresh flowers, the smiles given by all passing staff & passengers, the music, the piano bar sing alongs, the musicians playing during dinner, the amusing photographers (who did a great job!), the fabulous shore excursions & tour guides, ...I could go on and on!
I'm sure there are more positives I am forgetting about.
One thing I noticed, if you want to catch a movie at the theater but can't, they do play on your tv in your room the next day or so. Check the listings in the white book that holds the room service menus and they will be listed! In case any one was wondering what movies were played, they were:
Walk The Line
North Country
Yours Mine & Ours
Cheaper By The Dozen 2
The Legend of Zorro
Dreamer
The Greatest Game Ever Played
Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire
Aeon Flux
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
When I put the tv on late at night before going to bed Pretty Woman, The Constant Gardner, and The Island played several times during the cruise. The tv also had Animal Planet, TNT, CNN, Boomerang, and a few other channels in the early morning.
Also...we purchased the travel space bags, which included 2 big and 2 small bags that you pack your stuff in, then roll the air out, no vaccuum required. These worked extremely well! In one large bag I squeezed in 7 skirts, 6 tops, a shawl and some other items (fold, then roll, then shove in!). I would roll the bag a few times then kneel on it to get all the air out. I was able to pack all of my outfits for 10 days into 1 1/2 pilot cases!! I also put underwear and socks in a large ziplock bag and did the same thing. I did this with my husband's clothes too, including his suit, only one item, one of my formal dresses wrinkled. NOTHING else did! I will always pack this way! This was my first time using the travel space bags & ziplock bags, I highly recommend them. I was able to pack soo much in 2 pilot cases and one one regular suitcase for the both of us, that we never had to do laundry (I actually packed 2 full outfits to many for myself, that I never wore!)! We also packed 2 fanny packs, 2 money belts, a beach bag, alarm clock, extension cord, 2 rolls duct tape, night light, 2 books, 4 waterproof cameras, 4 disposable cameras, 1 APS camera, 1 digital camera, 1 camcorder, extra APS film, and a first aid kit with every kind of imaginable OTC med we might need. :D