Zaandam - Just Back Post SOE Upgrades - Review

[californiacruisefreak]

Hello everyone! I just returned yesterday from the Zaandam 7 day Eastern Caribbean sailing (4/2-/4/9). Below are a few brief observations of my experience.

 

Wow! Holland America is most definitely the finest premium mass market line in the industry. This was my 38th cruise, but only my 4th on Holland America. It is clear that the premium mass market has been dominated by two lines in recent years - Celebrity and Holland America. Holland America has absolutely taken the lead with the deployment of their Signature of Excellence Program.

 

My wife and I chose an "S" class suite for this sailing. It was well worth every penny! We arrived at the pier at about 1230pm and were quickly checked in and ready to board. Once on board we were invited to the new Neptune Lounge to relax and have a small lunch as the cabins were not ready until 130pm.

 

After lunch we explored the ship and were "wowed" by the new enhancements from January's drydock including, the new Club HAL and teens area called the Oasis (although not traveling with children), the new Explorations Cafe, cooking demonstration kitchen etc. See the HAL website for Signature of Excellence (SOE) enhancements. This ship looks absolutely beautiful with the only signs of aging perhaps on some external parts of the ship where rust is present.

 

The classic elements of this ship have been retained including full teak wrap around Promenade Deck, the classic HAL lounges (Explorers, Ocean Bar, Crow's Nest etc.).

 

This 60,000 ton vessel considered a "midship size" by today's standards is wonderful as it only holds 1,400 passengers and rarely feels crowded. If you've arrived at the pool and realized you left your sunglasses in the cabin - no problem it's only a few minute walk to anywhere on the ship.

 

People have asked on previous boards (including myself) what else was done during drydock. From what I could tell, the Neptune Lounge for suite passengers was added, all public restrooms have been completely redone, much of the ships carpeting and soft furnishings have been replaced. Both pools have brand new tile (remember HAL has freshwater pools!).

 

Dining was spectacular except for the Pinnacle Grill. Our party of 6 was very disappointed with the Pinnacle Grill and felt that it was a rip off and inferior to the dining room in terms of food quality and service. At one point our table was unattended by a waiter for over 40 minutes. We were told that the Pinnacle is supposed to be a "dining experience". However, 3 hours is a little long for any meal in my opinion - especially when the food is marginal.

 

Every cloud has a silver lining - as does our dining experience in the Pinnacle. The Director of Culinary from HAL Corporate was on board and I had a chance to speak with him in the Neptune Lounge for 45 minutes. Since he has taken his post his first focus was on improving food and service in the main dining room. This was apparent as we did not have one bad or even marginal meal in the main dining room. Food was the best I've experienced at sea. Our service was exceptional as well! Apparently, HAL is aware of the Pinnacle issues and admits it is marginal compared to the main dining room now that new menus and and increase in food quality has been implemented. Therefore, HAL plans to re-vamp the Pinnacle Grill by late this year or early next year. It will likely turn into a high end chop house with a completely different menu and new emphasis on service.

 

Buffets are the best I've had on any ship and were rich in variety and quality. The cheeseburgers from the grill are absolutely the best at sea! The same can be said of the pizza. Bar service was always available in a quiet and unobtrusive way. Compared to lines like RCCL where the bar staff is always in your face HAL does a great "Four Seasons" like job of making sure the bar staff is available, but never obnoxious. The quality of the drinks was excellent as well.

 

In terms of entertainment - what a great job for a mid-size ship. The two Broadway shows were good, but not great. However, the onboard talent (i.e. comedian etc.) was outstanding!

 

As a suite passenger there were many perks including priority embarkation/disembarkation, priority tender service, free laundry and dry cleaning, nightly hors'dourves delivered to the cabin (must request this from concierge), Neptune Lounge with 5 food/drink presentations daily in addition to a cappuccino machine and a wonderful concierge named Stella, invitations to cocktail parties and special suite lunch last day at sea.

 

Never before on a cruise has the senior staff been so visible. We actually got to know many of the senior officers including the captain.

 

One area where HAL has succeeded is appealing to a younger market - esentially the future of HAL. There were many young couples like us as well as young families. The kids program is wonderful and the children were well managed and very well behaved.

 

My wife attended one of the new cooking demonstrations and absolutley loved it. It included a chef hat and apron. Wow - the cooking demo kitchen is a must see!

 

HAL has succeeded where all other lines have failed. Instead of becoming more commercial and less personable as the line has grown they have done just the opposite - HAL is a very personable and high quality line that offers services and ammenities you would never expect on mid to large size ships in the mass market.

 

I cannot imagine ever wanting to sail on lines like Princess, RCCL, NCL, Carnival or perhaps even Celebrity ever again knowing that HAL is clearly the best line with the "biggest bang" for the buck. I would be disappointed with almost any other line.

 

The new HAL reminds me of the Sitmar of the past - a line that I grew up with and still have very fond memories of.

 

One bit of information that I got out of the Director of Culinary Services is that HAL will announce later this year the building of 4 new ships that will be somewhere between the size of the Zaandam and Vista Class ships. Therefore, they are expected to be around 75,000 tons with about 1500 passengers (very high passenger to space ratio).

 

Congratulations HAL - you are the finest mass market premium line!

 

I can't wait until my New Year's Mexico 10 day cruise on Ryndam and am considering sailing on the Oosterdam in September.

 

I'm happy to answer any questions.

[peaches from georgia]

CCF- Did you happen to be on deck when you all were departing HMC Friday?

 

Those of us watching on the Volendam were about to run to our lifeboat stations and our siren was going off full blast. What were those on the Zaandam bridge thinking? You all were headed straight at the Vol and missed hitting us by just inches. :mad:

 

We ate at the Volendam Pinnacle on three evenings during our 10 days. The first 2 times the food was above excellent and the service superb. The 3rd time was the exact opposite- I ordered the exact same dishes I had had just 2 nights before and you never would have known they came from the same kitchen. Nor that the service provided was in the same restaurant. Most everyone we talked with was extremely disappointed in the food and service, but as I said we thought our first 2 visits were excellent.

 

We thought the regular dining room was hit or miss. Some nights were average/good, but several were well below what they should be on HAL, both in menu selections and preparation. Service definetely was stretched to the max and I feel very sorry for the stewards (and for pax who cruised HAL before dining personnel cutbacks).

[Lanson5]

WOW what a great and fun review to read. Thank You! We are leaving on the Zaandam this Saturday. Really looking forward to it. Your post has just made our anticipation even greater. Will be our first experience with HAL, and the posts have been pretty diverse, not sure what to expect. But you can't doubt the word from someone that just walked off our ship;) .

 

Thanks again for taking the time to write the review.

[elmorejj]

Great report of a great ship. We have sailed on the Zaandam 6 times and absolutely love her. Glad the new inprovements enhanced your cruise.

 

Wow! Peaches, that must have been scary for you............jean :cool:

[californiacruisefreak]

I did see the near collision from our balcony on the port side of the Zaandam. I don't know why we came so close. It was almost not real!

 

I'm sorry your food experience in the main Rotterdam Dining Room was not as favorable as ours. Perhaps our food and service was extra special because of all the executives on board - including Rudy the executive chef for the whole line.

 

Anyway, can't wait for our next HAL experience. Also, keep in mind that your ship has not undergone SOE upgrades yet which include dining.

[peaches from georgia]

CCF- Oh, I am SO glad you concur on the near-hit between the Vol and the Zaandam! I was afraid I would get slammed on here for even suggesting such a thing could happen on HAL and that I must be exaggerating, mistaken, or just plain lying.

 

Anyone on Lido Deck on the Vol would say it was more than scary and totally outrageous. All we could see was the Zaandam heading straight at us in very choppy waters (HMC visit was cancelled for both ships), getting closer and closer, everyone on Lido ran to the windows and railings, some yelling, and our sirens blasting non-stop. Zaandam passed just off our aft. A friend spoke with crew right afterwards and he said they couldn't believe it either.

 

LOL! Thanks for the explanation! With Rudy and his friends on board I'm sure your food and service was exceptional. ;)

[shipcafe]

I can't wait until my New Year's Mexico 10 day cruise on Ryndam and am considering sailing on the Oosterdam in September.

 

I'm happy to answer any questions.

 

Ryndam will very much reflect the experience you just had - same upgrades have been implemented so you definitely have something to look forward to!

[californiacruisefreak]

Thanks for the reply about the Ryndam. Are you the shipcafe guy? I saw the Ryndam photos and they are great.

[brego]

Thank you for that wonderful review. We were on board the Zaandam the week before you. Overall, we had a wonderful experience! Loved the upgrades! However, our dining experience was the worst we have ever had on HAL. Our dining room steward had 27 passengers instead of his usual 17 and could never keep up (he apologized every meal).He implied that a higher passenger load for each steward was a trend the company was moving towards. I wanted to write corporate offices to provide feedback on this experience. Are you comfortable providing the name of the Culinary Executive so I can write to him directly? If not, I certianly understand and will track it down through HAL.

[Druke I]

75,000 GRT 1500 PAX gives a Passenger Space Ratio of 50, fairly generous for a mass market cruise line.

 

Personally, I would prefer new ships in the 50,000 GRT, 1000 PAX range, which is also a PSR 0f 50, but I know I can't have everything!

[ekerr19]

We were on the Volendam the voyage before Peaches... we thought the quality of food in the D/R was adequate but that the menu/selection was the worst we've seen for a long time.

 

Good news - Chef Pedro just joined the Volendam on our cruise, as well as a new F/B Manager so hopefully the Volendam will get up to speed soon.

 

Californiacruisefreak - THANKS! A great review! Enjoyed reading it, happy to hear you had a good time. :)

[localady]

Thanks for your review of th Zaandam, we were on her from 3/19-26 and absolutely loved the ship and the crew. Our teens also loved the improvements.:D

 

Sorry to hear that you weren't pleased with your meal at the Pinnacle. We had absolutely the best meal we've had at a Pinnacle in 8 "Dam" ships. Sorry your experience was not as good.:cool:

[ekerr19]

Thanks for your review of th Zaandam, we were on her from 3/19-26 and absolutely loved the ship and the crew. Our teens also loved the improvements.:D

 

Sorry to hear that you weren't pleased with your meal at the Pinnacle. We had absolutely the best meal we've had at a Pinnacle in 8 "Dam" ships. Sorry your experience was not as good.:cool:

 

Localady - How was your dining experience in the D/R???

[bkruiser]

I also traveled on the Zaandam April 2-9 and found it to be very enjoyable. But my guess is that it had to do with the fact that there were so many executives on board from Seattle. The crew was preparing for an inspection to be coming up in the near future. My tablemates traveled on the Zaandam two weeks in a row and said it was like a different ship the second week. They said the crew was not friendly at all the first week and the service was much worse as well. Also several "seasoned" crew members were specially brought on board for this week, including the cruise director and bingo caller. It was a pleasant week but it makes me nervous that I did not get a true impression of HAL. I normally sail Princess and felt this was very similar with a few pros and cons of each.

[shipcafe]

Thanks for the reply about the Ryndam. Are you the shipcafe guy? I saw the Ryndam photos and they are great.

 

I'm the ShipCafé guy :)