Zaandam - Hawaii

[Bobshe1]

This is my first posting so here goes:
My Husband and I are thinking of boooking on MS Zaandam in October this year to Hawaii, embarking in San Diego, can anyone tell me what to expect on the sea voyage weatherwise (choppy or not)

[Old Salty Dog]

We're booked on the Hawaii trip out of San Diego in March. The seas can be anything from rough to calm, there is no predicting. But most people seem to have had calm seas on almost all sailings.

For more information, type in Zaandam and/or Hawaii in the search box. Also, check out the Roll Call section for Holland America, click on Zaandam, and read some of the comments.

Incidentally, welcome to Cruise Critic. You can find a wealth of information here.

[kakalina]

Welcome to the HAL boards. There is a wealth of information here and plenty of nice folks who are willing to share it with you.

We have taken this cruise many times and it is a wonderful experience. The seas may be a bit choppy going into and out of San Diego, otherwise it is smooth sailing barring any extreme circumstances.
We will taking the Zaandam on Oct 8th. It will be our 9th time. It should be a great cruise.

Wherever you choose to go have a wonderful time.

[cruise101]

We were on the Zaandam heading to Hawaii in Jan 2008. For the first 4 days the seas were really rough. There were several folks who were virtually confined to their rooms just because of the bad seas. You couldn't move around without holding on to the railings, and it was awfully difficult for those who had mobility problems (walkers, etc).

Based on the earlier response to your question this may not be normal for this sailing. In our case I must admit that but we knew before we left San Diego that we were heading directly into a fairly big storm.

BTW, we enjoyed the cruise though, and the weather on the return leg was just perfect.

[HALFans]

You'll love the Zaandam, and the crew is everything you could hope for.

Our first sea day out of San Diego was pretty rough, which from the reviews I've read is pretty common.

After that it was pretty smooth, and the 3 & 4th days it was like sailing on a great blue mirror. (Well, almost!)

We loved this cruise and plan to do again soon. :D

[Big Al B.]

If you choose the Oct 8 cruise, there is a roll call started already :). Drop in.
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=783473

[RuthC]

I've done the Hawaii cruise three times, and sailed to the South Pacific once. Two sailings were to/from San Diego, and two were to/from Los Angeles.
On my cruises I found the Pacific to be more long, rolling swells than choppy rough water. It was a very different feel than the north Atlantic, especially the north Atlantic in storms.

You will have four relaxing days at sea during which you can unwind, and rest up for the more hectic port stops all in a row. Then you have five sea days on the return to catch your breath and enjoy.
This is a very nice itinerary. Enjoy.