Review of Mexican Riveria Zaandam

[Cruise Fanatic]

My partner Paul and myself returned from out eight day MExican Riveria Cruise on the Zaandam. This cruise was particularly important to Paul and myself, as it was the first cruise that we have taken since I was on dialysis. I was able to take my pd cycler machine as well as the various supplies, the liquid dianeal was delivered to the ship.

 

EMBARCATION:

Embarcation for this particular cruise, was on the long side. The Westerdam as well as the Zaandam was in port so there were a lot of passengers trying to check in. The problem seem t be the x-ray scanners. There was only one scanner for each ship..We were told that a number of the TSA aemployees called in sick, so that is why only one scanner for each ship. Once we got through the scanner, the rest of check in was a breeze.

 

CABIN:

We were booked in a Deluse Verandah Suite now called a Neptune Suite. We have stayed in this type of cabin on other cruises, so it was what we expected. The cabin was very clean, the couch was covered in a very nice rust colored material with coordinating throw pillows. The drapes were nice with a design in them.

 

CONDITION OF SHIP:

In reading some of the review of this ship, some people say that the ship is in bad condition and other say that it is in good condition. I found the latter to be true. All of the public rooms were in very good condition, all of the brass work shined and the carpets were clean. The crew was constantly cleaning. I am sure that there were some stains on the furniture as well as the carpeting, but then that is to be expected. People do spill.

 

DINNING AND FOOD:

We were assigned to open seating dinning.. We ate only once in the main dinning room and the service was very good, no waiting. Several nights we ate in the Lido, a couple of time in the Pinnacle Grill and the rest of the time we had our meals served in our cabin. (had to take advantage of that nice large cabin and large verandah with the nice table). We also had breakfast in our cabin every morning....what a way to travel.

 

ENTERTAINMENT:

We have sailed on HALnumerous times, and have found there show to be so so, the they are entertaing and a lot of energy is expended by the dancers. There was comic/magician , comedian and a great performance by Joel Mason, which I really enjoyed, he does put on a great show.

 

Before I leave the entertainment section, I have to mention the HAL cats. Now I know from own personal experience and reading other people's comments, one either loves or hates the HAL Cats. Well on this particular cruise, the had a singer with the HAL Cats by the name of May Palmer, who called herself "the Queen of Ivory Soul". Most of her song book was from the Mo-Town era (70"s * 80's) she sounds like Tina Turner and the HAL Cats were very good.

 

As I said before I have sailed on HAL a number of times and I have never seen the HAL Cats with the singer permorn in the main show room. Well on this cruise, May Palmer and the HAL Cats did perform in the main show lounge and it was a packced room. Hopefully, HAL is listening and going to improve on the HAL Cats and their singers.

 

STAFF

what can one say, the service on HAL is FANTASTIC, They may be cutting back on some things, but service is notone of them. On this cruise the service was up to HAL standards.

Our cabin stewards Dodi and Gede did a fantastic job of keeping out cabin clean, they both had extra duties in the fact that every day I had a big box full of my used spplies from my dialysis treatments and they took on the extra chore with no complaiants and a big smile.

 

Our concierge Jean-Paul was also very helpful, on this particular cruise, we did use his services more than usual. HE always had a smile and no reuest was too much.

 

AFTERTHOUGHTS:

This was our first time on the Zdaandam, and I really enjoyed the smaller ship. W have sailed on the RYndam and Maasdam, so being on a smaller ship was no surprise. Our last few cruises have been on the Vista Clas ships Noordam, and the Oosterdam. I really liked the decor of the ship and the colors in the varous public rooms.

 

I am sure there were cons on this shipcruise but to tell you the truth we were having so much fun enjoying the total ambiance of the ship, whatever cons there were didn't matter to us.

 

Yes I have noticed some of the cutback ie the bags that they give out are no longer the nice canvas type but made of a cheaper type of material, but hey, it comes with the cabin. One just learns to roll with the program .

 

I am sure that there are other passengers that were on this cruise that would find some fault, but as far as I am concerned, Paul and I had a great cruise and using their scale 1-9 we found it to be a 9 and are looking forwardd to our next cruise on a HAL ship.

[localady]

So glad you and Paul were able to cruise again!!:D

I am glad that even with you additional medical needs, the cruise went

smoothly and that you both enjoyed the ship. I really enjoyed

being on her this last January, I do love her size.

My DH and I are off to the Zaandam soon and it's always nice to read a positive report. :D

My best to you both!:D

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

[kazu]

Wonderful that you were able to cruise again:D and found a way to overcome some obstacles.

 

Glad to hear you had a good time. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experiences with us and welcome home:D

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report! Sounds like you had a great time.

[PathfinderEss]

We were on the Zaandam a few cruise before you and had the same wonderful time that you did.

Wasn't May Palmer awesome, just fell in love with her voice and her energy.

Jean Paul was great too, really enjoyed him as our concierge too.

Thanks for taking the time to write and post your thoughts on your cruise.

[sammygoose]

Thanks for taking the time to update us with your balanced and positive report!

[SilvertoGold]

Thanks for the review! Enjoyable reading.

 

Do you remember who the Hotel Director was, or any of the other officers?

[carri cruiser]

My partner Paul and myself returned from out eight day MExican Riveria Cruise on the Zaandam. This cruise was particularly important to Paul and myself, as it was the first cruise that we have taken since I was on dialysis. I was able to take my pd cycler machine as well as the various supplies, the liquid dianeal was delivered to the ship.

 

EMBARCATION:

Embarcation for this particular cruise, was on the long side. The Westerdam as well as the Zaandam was in port so there were a lot of passengers trying to check in. The problem seem t be the x-ray scanners. There was only one scanner for each ship..We were told that a number of the TSA aemployees called in sick, so that is why only one scanner for each ship. Once we got through the scanner, the rest of check in was a breeze.

 

CABIN:

We were booked in a Deluse Verandah Suite now called a Neptune Suite. We have stayed in this type of cabin on other cruises, so it was what we expected. The cabin was very clean, the couch was covered in a very nice rust colored material with coordinating throw pillows. The drapes were nice with a design in them.

 

CONDITION OF SHIP:

In reading some of the review of this ship, some people say that the ship is in bad condition and other say that it is in good condition. I found the latter to be true. All of the public rooms were in very good condition, all of the brass work shined and the carpets were clean. The crew was constantly cleaning. I am sure that there were some stains on the furniture as well as the carpeting, but then that is to be expected. People do spill.

 

DINNING AND FOOD:

We were assigned to open seating dinning.. We ate only once in the main dinning room and the service was very good, no waiting. Several nights we ate in the Lido, a couple of time in the Pinnacle Grill and the rest of the time we had our meals served in our cabin. (had to take advantage of that nice large cabin and large verandah with the nice table). We also had breakfast in our cabin every morning....what a way to travel.

 

ENTERTAINMENT:

We have sailed on HALnumerous times, and have found there show to be so so, the they are entertaing and a lot of energy is expended by the dancers. There was comic/magician , comedian and a great performance by Joel Mason, which I really enjoyed, he does put on a great show.

 

Before I leave the entertainment section, I have to mention the HAL cats. Now I know from own personal experience and reading other people's comments, one either loves or hates the HAL Cats. Well on this particular cruise, the had a singer with the HAL Cats by the name of May Palmer, who called herself "the Queen of Ivory Soul". Most of her song book was from the Mo-Town era (70"s * 80's) she sounds like Tina Turner and the HAL Cats were very good.

 

As I said before I have sailed on HAL a number of times and I have never seen the HAL Cats with the singer permorn in the main show room. Well on this cruise, May Palmer and the HAL Cats did perform in the main show lounge and it was a packced room. Hopefully, HAL is listening and going to improve on the HAL Cats and their singers.

 

STAFF

what can one say, the service on HAL is FANTASTIC, They may be cutting back on some things, but service is notone of them. On this cruise the service was up to HAL standards.

Our cabin stewards Dodi and Gede did a fantastic job of keeping out cabin clean, they both had extra duties in the fact that every day I had a big box full of my used spplies from my dialysis treatments and they took on the extra chore with no complaiants and a big smile.

 

Our concierge Jean-Paul was also very helpful, on this particular cruise, we did use his services more than usual. HE always had a smile and no reuest was too much.

 

AFTERTHOUGHTS:

This was our first time on the Zdaandam, and I really enjoyed the smaller ship. W have sailed on the RYndam and Maasdam, so being on a smaller ship was no surprise. Our last few cruises have been on the Vista Clas ships Noordam, and the Oosterdam. I really liked the decor of the ship and the colors in the varous public rooms.

 

I am sure there were cons on this shipcruise but to tell you the truth we were having so much fun enjoying the total ambiance of the ship, whatever cons there were didn't matter to us.

 

Yes I have noticed some of the cutback ie the bags that they give out are no longer the nice canvas type but made of a cheaper type of material, but hey, it comes with the cabin. One just learns to roll with the program .

 

I am sure that there are other passengers that were on this cruise that would find some fault, but as far as I am concerned, Paul and I had a great cruise and using their scale 1-9 we found it to be a 9 and are looking forwardd to our next cruise on a HAL ship.

 

Glad you found Zaandam in good condition... We circled Hawaii in 2010 and I thought it could use some help.... I think it has been refurbished since then, we will be sailing on her again June 23 RT Vancouver to Alaska, and my DD and SIL will be on her May 5th , so am happy that all is well with her!! thanks for your review:)

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[Boatdrill]

Thank you for the review. How nice to read of a happy experience !

 

I had friends on the same cruise...they were first time cruisers...and they loved it. Had a wonderful time too. It went so well that they booked on board for Alaska !

[Keith1010]

Thank you for taking the time to write and post the review.

 

Keith

[jayteeaitch]

DW and I were on her last year on her first and only South/Pacific/Australian 14 day voyage and also had a Neptune suite

 

We loved her and so pleased to see you had such a nice time on her. I made a number of small videos you might like to visit as a keep sake http://www.youtube.com/user/jayteeaitch?feature=mhee

 

There is much talk of the differences between Hal's "small" ships vs the bigger ships - and in my opinion the smaller ones win hands down.

 

If I was the boss of Hal I would ensure that the Zaandam and her sister ship - The Volendam - will go on for ever.

No need to build new ships - just take these 2 into a complete dry dock and refit and extend their lives by another 15 years.

 

I dislike the idea that eventually we might have to sail on what we call "Cattlë Boats"- due to their resemblance to the ships that we transport live cattle and sheep from Australia to overseas

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing the videos.

 

Keith

[JamesEM]

Thanks for your review.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

Glad you had a wonderful cruise and a wonderful.

We got off the Westerdam that day you got onto the Zaandam.

One thing -- around 7 PM on embarkation day we noticed from our hotel room that Zaandam returning to San Diego. Do you know what happened?

[CruiseMaven1234]

Thank you for your thorough review. Your findings - albeit with the Zaandam and mine with the N.A. - match mine in that service remains top-notch but the entertainment has its disappointing moments. I too rated my overall experience a "9."

 

Glad you had a such a nice time.

[Cruise Fanatic]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

Glad you had a wonderful cruise and a wonderful.

We got off the Westerdam that day you got onto the Zaandam.

One thing -- around 7 PM on embarkation day we noticed from our hotel room that Zaandam returning to San Diego. Do you know what happened?

 

To answer your question, we had just reached open water, when we had to return to port due to the fact that a passenger required shoreside medical attention. I felt bad for the passenger, what a way to start a vacation.

[dobiemom]

I am sure that there are other passengers that were on this cruise that would find some fault, but as far as I am concerned, Paul and I had a great cruise and using their scale 1-9 we found it to be a 9 and are looking forwardd to our next cruise on a HAL ship.

I agree! :D

 

Larry, it was great meeting you and Paul.

[sassyredhat]

Thank you for the informative review. :)

Zaandam is one of our favorite ships, and it was troublesome to read negative reviews.

Pat

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Thanks for the great review Larry :) I am so glad that you and Paul had a great time and everything went well with you dialysis and bringing you things on board. I so wished I would have been on your cruise, so many friends were on board.

Tom and I are hoping we can get a chance to cruise with you again.

[GTVCRUISER]

I had a good time on this cruise :)

[solocanadian]

I agree with you Larry 100%. It was a pleasure meeting you and Paul and you too Gary.:D My only fault with the entire cruise was the freezing cold dining room. I finally gave up having breakfast and lunch there because of the cold. Had to wear a blazer or jacket every night.

One other thing bugged me. Larry graciously arranged the Meet N Greet and as our numbers grew it had to be scheduled for meeting in the Crow's Nest. Only half the people showed up. I felt bad that Hal had put out tea, coffee, water & cookies for a small group of 12 people. Other than that it was wonderful.:D

[SilvertoGold]

I agree with you Larry 100%. It was a pleasure meeting you and Paul and you too Gary.:D My only fault with the entire cruise was the freezing cold dining room. I finally gave up having breakfast and lunch there because of the cold. Had to wear a blazer or jacket every night.

One other thing bugged me. Larry graciously arranged the Meet N Greet and as our numbers grew it had to be scheduled for meeting in the Crow's Nest. Only half the people showed up. I felt bad that Hal had put out tea, coffee, water & cookies for a small group of 12 people. Other than that it was wonderful.:D

 

Welcome back!

Interesting about the DR. I guess it is a good idea to take my warmer indoor clothing!

Do you have any lists of officers on your cruise? Always appreciate knowing who is who in advance.

[GTVCRUISER]

Good Entertainment on this cruise