Zaandam 21 day South America & Antarctic Explorer cruise log/review

[barante]

We are doing next Christmas/New Year Zaandam Antarctica sail-by for the simple reason we want to spend the holidays without too many obligation and according to our own rhythm (I we feel a nap coming. . .)

 

We once did Christmas/New Year on Celebrity and it was great. For 2017 Christmas/New Year we have booked the Constellation from Abu Dhabi to India.

 

Our most authentic Christmas memories are from childhood. Let's create new ones.

[scm1848]

I talked my husband into a BA to Santiago cruise in December 2010, right after I retired. He was very worried about storms, but I assured him that since I was a former lifeguard, he would be fine - LOL - almost! We hit the worst hurricane that our Captain Rick Krombein had seen in his 35 years at sea. After we left the Falklands, we had a 90 foot wave break over the Crow's Nest of the Veendam, and had 100 mph headwinds. We spent 16 hours, thinking from hour to hour that we were going to die because the ship was going to break apart. I posted a trip report here on CC, and there on some video's on the infamous video site (Not sure I can name it here), which do not do the horror justice.

 

I so wish we had gone for the prior or later cruises, all of which made it to Antarctica with smooth seas. I still toy with the idea, but I don't think I could bring myself to risk it again - and I would be going without my husband, who won't even discuss it. No getting back on the horse that threw us for these two.

 

I'm not trying to discourage anyone, and SO envy all of you who have had one or more great trips to this beautiful area. BUT, I'm also a realist, and this is just for your thoughts.

[SeaDog-46]

In the same area in March 2001 2 small cruise ships encountered freak waves.

Caledonian Star was hit by a 30 metre wave in Drake Passage & Bremen was hit by a similar sized wave in South Atlantic.

In 1942 the old Queen Mary was hit broadside by a 92 feet wave that rolled the ship 52 degrees - she righted herself & safely delivered 15,000 US troops to Glasgow.

In 1978 the LASH vessel Munchen was lost with all hands in the North Atlantic. It was operating a joint service with the HAL sister ship Bilderdyk.

In 1980 the large British bulk carrier Derbyshire sank with all lost, south of Japan, in a typhoon.

There are many more instances & some will occasionally effect cruise ships.

The Southern Ocean can have reasonable weather but when it gets bad it can be really bad ,with the very high swell together with wind driven sea waves combining to make very high freak waves.

[scluvsrain]

Well now. That sure settles my stomach.

 

 

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[Groningen]

Do those of you with experience on this cruise think that the following would be warm enough for the Antarctica part: a super wind/rain breaker, a very thick sweater, a thick sweater, insulating long sleeved top. Of course also a balaclava, warm scarf and hat and gloves. I thought at first that I should bring a down jacket too, but that is quite big to bring, so if I don't need it, that would help with the amount of luggage! We'll be going Jan. 2017.

[okanagan annie]

Just came back from that fantastic cruise. I wore the super wind/rain jacket with hood. Under that a fleece pullover and snug fitting cotton turtleneck. Also a warm hat, warm gloves or mitts, headband, scarf and tights under pants. I did pack wind/rain pants but really didn't need them. No down-filled jacket but saw some light weight ones. It can be a rather damp coolness feel but we did have brilliant sunshine for 1.5 days! Be prepared to stand for significant amounts of time on the bow/deck for views. Footwear: I wore sturdy suede and rubber toed runners with single or double socks.

[Groningen]

Just came back from that fantastic cruise. I wore the super wind/rain jacket with hood. Under that a fleece pullover and snug fitting cotton turtleneck. Also a warm hat, warm gloves or mitts, headband, scarf and tights under pants. I did pack wind/rain pants but really didn't need them. No down-filled jacket but saw some light weight ones. It can be a rather damp coolness feel but we did have brilliant sunshine for 1.5 days! Be prepared to stand for significant amounts of time on the bow/deck for views. Footwear: I wore sturdy suede and rubber toed runners with single or double socks.

 

Thank you so much! Looks like I will leave the down jacket at home :)

[mr_cruiser8]

What a very nice review... thinking of doing this cruise later this year (same itinerary, begins in Valparaiso and ends in Buenos Aires) and I made notes of the places, tours and things you did.

 

I do have a question for you please (or anyone here who can answer): the itinerary shows that the Zaandam is in Buenos Aires for 2 days and 1 night, from your review, you can leave the ship the first day, then return to sleep overnight, and disembark the next day. Do you know if one is allowed to disembark with his luggage on that first day? Did you see anyone doing this, or is disembarkation only allowed on the second day? And when were your passports returned? Thanks.

[scluvsrain]

Yes you can disembark. I am doing exactly that on my upcoming identical itinerary. It is best to advise the front desk that you are leaving "early" though. Don't want them trying to find you the next morning!

 

 

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[scluvsrain]

Sometimes you have to get formal approval to disembark early but my TA advised it was not necessary this trip because we are overnighting on the last day.

 

 

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[RuthC]

I concur that you can disembark early, and think it can be an excellent idea.

Many, if not most, of the flights back to the US leave late evening. If you disembark on the second day, you have a very long day of getting up early to leave the ship, spend a day filling time, then a long wait at the airport for a long flight home. It's exhausting! My trips home have been 33 and 39 hour "days" doing this.

If you leave the ship late afternoon, or even after dinner, the first day, you can go straight to the airport after a later morning and relaxing day, and not spend so many hours just waiting.

[scluvsrain]

Yes! And that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm taking an all day tour and then coming back to the ship for dinner then hailing a cab to the airport. My flight leaves at midnight.

 

 

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[travelers07]

We left the Zaandam the afternoon of the first day last February. There was a form we needed to sign and also tell them what time we would leave. We did tell Security at the gangway we were leaving- obvious since we had our luggage. We just do carryon size so no problem. As in the other SA countries, there is local security checking your bags for food- send all bags through x-ray machines. Had to wait a couple of minutes so they could accommodate us in the terminal. No problem at all.

Have a great time- we loved everything.

[StartrainDD]

Yes! And that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm taking an all day tour and then coming back to the ship for dinner then hailing a cab to the airport. My flight leaves at midnight.

 

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Hello! Yes, we know there were guests who left on the first day in BA. However, I am not certain your plan will work. You may need to leave with the luggage by a certain time as the 'luggage scanners' are not staffed overnight.

 

I remember there was a place to indicate on the disembarkation questionnaire if you were leaving 'early.'

 

I also do not recall seeing any 'luggage storage' at the terminal.

 

Answering an earlier question - Passports were returned the day before Montevideo.

 

This is an incredible trip to look forward to!

 

Arie

Edited January 29, 2016 by StartrainDD

[scluvsrain]

But I would walk off the ship with my luggage and go straight to a cab to the airport. I'm not sure I understand why I would have a problem.

 

 

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[StartrainDD]

But I would walk off the ship with my luggage and go straight to a cab to the airport. I'm not sure I understand why I would have a problem.

 

 

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Luggage needs to be scanned at disembarkation. No food, plants, animal products, etc. Same thing you will go through at Santiago airport upon arrival. Check when you get onboard. It is likely you may need to depart by a certain time.

[roaming_kiwi58]

We came off Zaandam earlier in January (on same sailing as StarTrainDD).

We were told we could disembark as late as 11pm on the first day in BA. But you will have to check that on board. We were told so many different stories about disembarkation it was a real frustration!

 

We actually wanted to get off early on the 2nd day in BA. Were told on booking we could get off as early as 6am. Then on board we were told the earliest we could disembark on that last day was 8.30am! If we wanted to get off earlier we would have to disembark the night before (as late as 11pm) and stay in a hotel overnight!! Then they changed that, saying we could get off at 7.30am. Then they said "get off whenever you want"!! Then, 6am is the earliest. Nobody we were referred to seemed to know for sure.

 

We did not need to get off as early as 6am, but by this time we had no idea how long it was going to take us to get off the ship and through the terminal, so we got off at 6am. We were first passengers off Zaandam, together with one other couple. There was a shuttle bus waiting to take us to the terminal. Then we had to wait while they found someone to check our luggage through the xray. They did not check passports. Then we had to wait, because all the gates were still locked and we could not get out to the street. Eventually a guy with keys showed up and unlocked. It took about 30 minutes in all to get out onto the street from the ship.

 

If you have a late evening flight out of EZE, given the time of the flight, the time you will need to be at the airport, and the time it will take you to get to EZE from the port, you should have no problem doing this on the first evening in BA, but you need to check that there will be shuttles, and staff in the terminal building to do everything necessary at the time you want to get out, because at some point they do shut down for the night!

[scluvsrain]

Okay. Good info to know. Thanks!

 

 

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[MicCanberra]

Fantastic review, love it.:D

[MicCanberra]

Thank you so much for sharing your adventures StartrainDD, it was wonderfully detailed account. Don't worry about the photos, as they can never fully capture the light, colour and magnificent beauty of Antarctica.:D

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed your review/report.

 

Keith

[TeDaKi]

Thank you so much for writing your review. I really enjoyed reading it.

Yesterday, we booked the Zaandam Antarctica cruise for January 2017 and your review is really making me look forward to this great cruise! :)

[Kirk1961!]

[sako]

We're taking this cruise in December, 2016, and I'm loving your posts. Please don't stop!!

[maltcan]

All the people I have talked to over the years that raved about Antarctica were absolutely correct. This was an outstanding cruise in general and the scenery enjoyed in Southern South America and Antarctica put it “Over the top.” It will be hard, if not impossible, for a cruise to top this one.

 

The very small misconnects that occurred in no way offset the overall positives. We loved having a cabin on deck 3 just steps from the “Biggest balcony on the ship.” Being somewhat forward, we did hear the sounds of the ‘late show’ in the showroom if we turned in early, so watch out if you book a cabin with #3300 – 3318. This did not bother us as it was not loud at all, but some might want to know this.

 

The Captain making the decision to go to Antarctica at full speed gave us an extra eight hours of perfect weather sightseeing that could never be recovered if we had not done so. The senior staff seemed to be “Out and about” around the ship and it always feels good to see them eating on the pool deck and interacting with the guests.

 

We had the best cabin team, Davies & Mil, that we ever recall. Our primary dinner waiter, Rooney, was outstanding. The on location talks were mostly top-notch. While in two ports we could have chosen better tour options, that is the kind of thing that is not HAL’s fault and we certainly had a great time in everything we did. There is no option but to give the good ship Zaandam and its crew five stars out of five for this great South America and Antarctica explorer cruise.

 

I hope you all enjoyed my log and that this will be helpful to those who are planning for this trip in the future!

 

Arie

 

We very much enjoyed your review and finding it very helpful.Thank you. We are booked on the Dec20/16 sailing. You said that in two ports you could have chosen better tour options. Which ones did you do with HAL and which

organized by your fellow CC members. Which would you consider a pass? What should we not miss? Would appreciate you assistance as we are starting to make our choices. Thank you. D&V