Review of HAL Zaandam SA/Antarctica Cruise with lots of Photos & Menus

We have just posted a review to our website with lots of photos of our recently completed South America/Antarctica cruise on the Holland America Zaandam. Also included are menus from all of the bars and eating venues.

It was just an awesome cruise to an amazing part of the world. Even though we had done a SouthAmerica cruise in 2011, this was a totally different experience. We saw different things in the ports we had previously visited and were so very pleased with the two new ports in Chile. But the stars of the cruise, were the Falklands and Antarctica. Truly amazing places to visit. Standing next to thousands of beautiful King Penguins was such a thrill.

Being able to cruise through the grandeur of Antarctica, was truly unbelievable. I never thought I would be able to experience Antarctica in person. Carol would never be able to do an expedition cruise there, so being able to cruise through Antarctica for four days was a dream come true for us. I have probably put way too many photos in the review; but I want to be able to remember the majesty of this secluded part of the world. The photos in the review are of a low resolution to keep the size of the review down; but they can still give an idea of what we experienced. But even the full size high resolution photos can’t compare to the drop-dead beauty we got to see with our own eyes. Everyone should put Antarctica on their bucket list. You will be glad you did.

The review is located on our website, which is linked to in my signature. I hope it is helpful for those of you that are planning a vacation to this beautiful part of the world; or that it brings back some fond memories to those of you who have been able to visit these places.

Amazing pictures. Thank you for sharing and adding this experience to our bucket list!

Your review is beautiful, and brought back so many fantastic memories! We were very fortunate to have wonderful weather for the entire cruise. Waters so calm, that I was somewhat disappointed as we rounded Cape Horn - the water was as smooth as glass! :)

Thank you very much for sharing!

Absolutely wonderful -- your pictures are great.

Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for the review & great pictures. Antarctica is on our bucket list.

Allan

A LOT of us have that cruise on our bucket list. You are doing us a wonderful service, thanks!

Thanks for the nice comments. I am glad you are enjoying the review. I highly recommend not putting off visiting Antarctica too long. There were discussions a while back about them not being allowed at some point.

Your review was great and so enjoyable to read. Your photos are beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you for the review and the beautiful photos. What a wonderful trip you had.

Thanks for the review and photos!

Great review. We're booked for the same cruise for Jan 2019, can't wait now!

We are doing the same cruise in Dec, our second visit as well. I am guessing your king penguin pics came from volunteer point in the Falklands.

(CLIP...) or that it brings back some fond memories to those of you who have been able to visit these places.

Fond memories indeed! After our first trip there in 2010/2011, we'll be going back again in 2019/2020. That's in addition to a Zaandam trip this September relocating from Seattle to Rio.

This area is so beautiful and serene and I love reading of how others react to it. Thanks for your thoughtful and most thorough review!

One thing to note; all HAL ships have a promenade that completely encircles the ship. What has upset some is that on the newest ships (Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam) the promenade is narrow in many areas, no longer accommodates lounge chairs and has life boats obstructing much of the view.

Fond memories indeed! After our first trip there in 2010/2011, we'll be going back again in 2019/2020. That's in addition to a Zaandam trip this September relocating from Seattle to Rio.

 

This area is so beautiful and serene and I love reading of how others react to it. Thanks for your thoughtful and most thorough review!

 

One thing to note; all HAL ships have a promenade that completely encircles the ship. What has upset some is that on the newest ships (Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam) the promenade is narrow in many areas, no longer accommodates lounge chairs and has life boats obstructing much of the view.

Thank you so much for letting me know about the promenade deck. Good to know. I will fix that immediately.

We have just posted a review to our website with lots of photos of our recently completed South America/Antarctica cruise on the Holland America Zaandam. Also included are menus from all of the bars and eating venues.

 

It was just an awesome cruise to an amazing part of the world. Even though we had done a SouthAmerica cruise in 2011, this was a totally different experience. We saw different things in the ports we had previously visited and were so very pleased with the two new ports in Chile. But the stars of the cruise, were the Falklands and Antarctica. Truly amazing places to visit. Standing next to thousands of beautiful King Penguins was such a thrill.

 

 

 

 

 

Being able to cruise through the grandeur of Antarctica, was truly unbelievable. I never thought I would be able to experience Antarctica in person. Carol would never be able to do an expedition cruise there, so being able to cruise through Antarctica for four days was a dream come true for us. I have probably put way too many photos in the review; but I want to be able to remember the majesty of this secluded part of the world. The photos in the review are of a low resolution to keep the size of the review down; but they can still give an idea of what we experienced. But even the full size high resolution photos can’t compare to the drop-dead beauty we got to see with our own eyes. Everyone should put Antarctica on their bucket list. You will be glad you did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The review is located on our website, which is linked to in my signature. I hope it is helpful for those of you that are planning a vacation to this beautiful part of the world; or that it brings back some fond memories to those of you who have been able to visit these places.

This is terrific, thank you! We will be cruising Zaandam to Alaska in May

I so love and appreciate this review as I have just begun researching this cruise for either 2019 or 2020. Your pictures are just stunning and they have made me want to go all the more!

Great commentary and love the photos.

Keith

Thank you so much for all the nice comments. They are really appreciated.

Thank you for the reminder. I was on this cruise also. There is nothing like it. If you are considering it, don't put it off. This was my second time and I would do it again anytime. My review has been published on cruisecritic. It is more about the ship than what my eyes saw.

Wow just wow! Thank you! I hope to do this one day, but am concerned about Cape Horn. How was it for you?

Not sure I understand the comments about the promenade?

Wow just wow! Thank you! I hope to do this one day, but am concerned about Cape Horn. How was it for you?

Not sure I understand the comments about the promenade?

Cape Horn was fine for us. I had made an incorrect statement about the Koningsdam promenade, which I have now corrected.

Thanks for the link to your thorough review, fabulous photos.

Thank you for the reminder. I was on this cruise also. There is nothing like it. If you are considering it, don't put it off. This was my second time and I would do it again anytime. My review has been published on cruisecritic. It is more about the ship than what my eyes saw.

Could you post a link to it? We are trying to learn as much about the ship as we can before we cruise in May

Thank you so much for letting me know about the promenade deck. Good to know. I will fix that immediately.

Mike, Thanks for taking my note in the spirit it was intended. I am often hesitant to point such things out, but in this case, knowing how thorough you are and how many people read and appreciate your tremendous efforts I thought that it might be important to you and your readers.

As far as the deck naming goes, it is confounding why there are so many "promenade" decks. I believe the idea is that the "Promenade Deck" and "Upper Promenade Deck" are named that way as they identify the interior decks where one can "promenade" around the public areas, shops and lounges of the ship. I'm sure this naming convention has made many a cruiser scratch their head. :confused:

Again, thanks so much for all your wonderful reviews. I've always found your work interesting and informative. I can't say often enough how beautiful and other-worldly the Antarctic is.

Anyone even thinking about going should be motivated to take the plunge after reading your travel log, and I see from the comments some are!

Wow just wow! Thank you! I hope to do this one day, but am concerned about Cape Horn. How was it for you?

Not sure I understand the comments about the promenade?

bennybear, I'm not MVPinBoynton, and I know he answered your question, but I did this cruise back in 2010/2011. That was the year (December 2010) you may remember the small cruise ship "Clelia II" and its problems in the Drake Passage, the stretch of ocean from Cape Horn to the Antarctic. Clelia II was hit by a rogue wave and disabled and was assisted by the NGS Explorer. We saw her at port in Ushuaia later that year. We were on the ms Veendam, which had experienced a fierce storm in the Drake Passage on the way to Cape Horn on the cruise just before ours, where waves had broken a window in the Crow's Nest, broken most of the china in the MDR and left the bow of the ship damaged, rippling the bow vertically and damaging the decking at the prow near the small flag mast and ship's bell. She was not disabled but was about a half day late arriving in Valparaiso where we embarked for our cruise.

Our cruise was very different though. Cape Horn was clear and the seas calm and I remember the Captain saying we had gotten closer to it than he had ever gotten before. We had a terrific view. Our Drake Passage crossing was notably unremarkable. The seas were calm and glassy like a lake. Fog enveloped us the entire way to the Antarctic Peninsula and created an eerie atmosphere of being transported to a different world, which we were.

Long story shortened, you can never be sure of the weather in this area. It is often rough but it can also be smooth and boring even. We had great weather the whole cruise and only encountered strong winds and choppy seas on the transit leaving Antarctica and heading towards the Falklands. We had to endure those as there is only one direction to travel to get from one to the other. We feared we'd not be able to make a stop in Stanley, as so many cruises find, but once we arrived, we had a great day with fairly calm seas and light winds, allowing us to make the long tender ride into port.

I hope you don't let the threat of rough weather keep you from making this incredible voyage. It really is worth making the trip.

The comment I made on the promenade was in reference to MVPinBoynton's blog and I should have been more descriptive. My bad...