A report from the first Zaandam sailing in 790 days.

[Ready2go11]

Easiest ever embarkation in Ft. Lauderdale yesterday. Dropped off at port. No lines, and porter took our bags quickly. We had completed and received a “ready to fly” on the Verifly app the day before embarkation. There was a special line for those with Verifly and no line. We then went through metal detectors. 
 

Next we were given a paper to fill out to supply our ArriveCan verification code and turned that in (since we had pre completed that too). Next was a machine that scanned the boarding pass and passport, then up the escalator to have the embarkation photo taken and on to our room. Keys cards were in an envelope outside our door. 
 

Cruise Director Ian said this morning at Coffee Talk that there are 1,010 passengers on board, compared to a stated capacity (if there are 2 people in each cabin) of 1,432. About 600 staff on board, compared to about 800 at full staff. It is very nice to not have crowds of people in the Lido, at the show etc. the largest gathering so far was the l8ne at guest services on Day 1. Lots of issues with Internet access. 
 

More to come.  

[idiebabe]

Thank you and I'll be following along!  We're booked for a B2B end of August and looking forward to Sailing on Zaandam again!

[ger_77]

Thanks for starting this thread; I'll be following you as well!

[seatrial]

Hi. I am also on Zaandam today. I am happy to be here. Thankful for the hard-working crew. The ships public areas look great. It appears that much of the furniture has been reupholstered and I believe the chairs in the dining room are new; they are very nice. The ocean view cabin I am in does have the updated bath, but otherwise is very dated; no new television. The ship has been exceeding 23 knots and is very smooth and running nicely. 
 

On a negative, and surprising note, due to a lack of crew, the dining room will never be open for lunch on this entire cruise. Additionally, the dining room will only be open for breakfast on sea days. We are quite disappointed by this as this is a big reason we cruise HAL. There is no classical string duo on board for this trip; not sure why. 

 

it’s a beautiful day at sea today. 

[SLC1954]

Thank you for the update, I am on the June 4th Montreal to Boston Run. If the internet is working could you post photos of the Crows Nest and Lido Market seating?
Enjoy your cruise!

[tvlgoddess]

If anyone is in a Vista suite, could you please let us know if the room has been retrofitted?  Still a tub, or is it a shower now?  Pictures would be greatly appreciated if possible.  We will be on her this Fall.  Thank you and enjoy your cruise.

[Florida_gal_50]

3 hours ago, seatrial said:

Hi. I am also on Zaandam today. I am happy to be here. Thankful for the hard-working crew. The ships public areas look great. It appears that much of the furniture has been reupholstered and I believe the chairs in the dining room are new; they are very nice. The ocean view cabin I am in does have the updated bath, but otherwise is very dated; no new television. The ship has been exceeding 23 knots and is very smooth and running nicely. 
 

On a negative, and surprising note, due to a lack of crew, the dining room will never be open for lunch on this entire cruise. Additionally, the dining room will only be open for breakfast on sea days. We are quite disappointed by this as this is a big reason we cruise HAL. There is no classical string duo on board for this trip; not sure why. 

 

it’s a beautiful day at sea today. 

The MDR is hardly open for lunch.  Now I'd be VERY upset to not have it open for breakfast.  That is ridiculous.  All 1000 people are going to go to the lido or have room service I guess.  That's just wrong.

[Ready2go11]

I am also disappointed with lack of a dining room lunch option. It made the Lido very crowded today at Lido since it was a sea day.  We always enjoy Pinnacle for lunch as well and it is not open for lunch at all on this 9 day cruise. 
 

Here are some pics of the Crowe’s Nest. Very nice soothing new color scheme. Will post more as I get around the ship. 
 

I am in a Vista suite on deck 7. Bathroom still only has shower/tub combo, no separate shower. I was very surprised that the TVs were not upgraded during the recent dry dock. There is a 30ish in TV in our room between the bed and seating areas on a swivel stand. No on demand channels that I am used to on HAL. Only news channels and maybe 4 other channels showing the same movies all day. It still has a DVD player underneath it. 
 

This is the first time I have been on the smaller class ships like Zaandam. I like the smaller ship for navigation and the coziness. I am still getting used to the changes in where certain venues are located.  For instance, Explorations Cafe is on Deck 5, not paired with the Crows Nest. Dining Room is on Deck 4 and 5. 
 

Heading to afternoon tea shortly. Very glad they still offer that, and Navigator app says it will happen on port days as well. 
 

 

[KAKcruiser]

It is surprising that the TVs were not updated during drydock.  The Volendam was updated a few years ago and has the same interactive TV system as the newer ships.

[Caribbean Chris]

Thanks so much for this thread. Following, since we’ll be on the Christmas cruise.

[seatrial]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

The MDR is hardly open for lunch.  Now I'd be VERY upset to not have it open for breakfast.  That is ridiculous.  All 1000 people are going to go to the lido or have room service I guess.  That's just wrong.

On every HAL cruise I have ever been on, the dining room was open for Mariner’s lunch on boarding day and on each sea day. The lido market today for lunch was absolutely horrible. HAL should be embarrassed. The crowds were just too much and the food is below HAL standards. Given the prevalence of Covid having this many unmasked people in the lido is a recipe for problems. Knowing that there was a looming crew shortage HAL should have kept the number of passengers for this cruise lower. If this were my first cruise, I would never go again. 

Edited May 13, 2022 by seatrial

[Crazy For Cats]

Thanks for this thread.  Could you report back on Happy Hour pricing?  We don’t have perks next month and this information could help us decide on adding HIA.

[albingirl]

The lack of MDR, sending us to a buffet more than we want, and the lack of the classical string musicians are deal breakers for us.  If I want to go to buffets, I can go to the Golden Corral in Florida.  No way do I want to pay top dollar for buffet dining for breakfast and lunch.  Ridiculous.

[idiebabe]

1 hour ago, seatrial said:

On every HAL cruise I have ever been on, the dining room was open for Mariner’s lunch on boarding day and on each sea day. The lido market today for lunch was absolutely horrible. HAL should be embarrassed. The crowds were just too much and the food is below HAL standards. Given the prevalence of Covid having this many unmasked people in the lido is a recipe for problems. Knowing that there was a looming crew shortage HAL should have kept the number of passengers for this cruise lower. If this were my first cruise, I would never go again. 

I completely agree that they need to keep the Passenger count down with the Crew Shortages. It's really not fair to those Sailing!  We were on the NS in March (2nd time since Restart) and it was an "off" Cruise. First time was great!  One of the Restaurant Managers told us they are short-staffed between those going home due to end of Contract and having trouble getting Crew back for various reasons.  It doesn't only affect the FOH but the back, too, with the Kitchen if they are short there, too.  

 

Can you report back with how the food is and also is there Music in Ocean Bar and what type?  Can you post pics of Billboard?  Thanks!

Edited May 13, 2022 by idiebabe

[Louise sail]

We are signed on for a back to back starting in Montreal and signed with the idea that we would eat mainly in the dining room where we could be waited on while I recover from an injured leg.

 The classical musicians are a favourite part of our before dinner time.We paid top dollar for this cruise and we expect good service.We will be very disappointed if our expectations are not fulfilled.

[Florida_gal_50]

2 hours ago, seatrial said:

On every HAL cruise I have ever been on, the dining room was open for Mariner’s lunch on boarding day and on each sea day. The lido market today for lunch was absolutely horrible. HAL should be embarrassed. The crowds were just too much and the food is below HAL standards. Given the prevalence of Covid having this many unmasked people in the lido is a recipe for problems. Knowing that there was a looming crew shortage HAL should have kept the number of passengers for this cruise lower. If this were my first cruise, I would never go again. 

Yes of course you are right about the sea days.  For some reason I was thinking port 🤪.  I was on the  koningsdam 4 weeks since the start up.  The dining room was closed upon embarkation.  I don’t understand the whole crew shortage thing.  Unless they have a lot of crew testing positive when they come to join the ship why are they short? I came to know a fair number of the crew on the koningsdam.  We would chat and more than a few told me there were longer times at home because hal wanted to give all employees a chance to work.  I also talked quite often to my cabana steward.  He was leaving very early April to go home and he didn’t have his next assignment.  I think it comes down to hal being cheap, Lots of business are like this.  Just work employees to death.

 

Next year hal is putting the zaandam on the west cost while it sends the koningsdam on long extended cruises.  This makes zero sense. The market for those lengthy cruises would be less because not a ton of people can take that much time off.  I have zero interest in sailing on this ship again.

[Ready2go11]

There is a happy hour at 4 PM in the Ocean bar and the Crows Nest. There is also a late night happy hour at the Seaview pool at 9 PM. It is buy one, get one 25% off. I believe on my last sailing in Dec 2019, HH was buy one get one for a $1. I am fortunate to have the drink package and have sampled a number of drinks. 
 

While the Lido was crowded today, my lunch of noodles and peanut pork satay was very good. Afternoon tea was also very tasty and the service was good. One of the best I have experienced on HAL after many sailings on many ships.  My sister and I have been wearing our masks in public areas since we got on board except to eat and drink. I’d guess only 15-20% of others are wearing masks. All the crew are as they are required to do so. 
 

The cruise director said we are picking up some musicians in Boston, so there is hope yet for a string quartet. 
 

There is no billboard or music walk on Zaandam but they have an area on Deck 5 for piano and other live music and a separate bar area named Mix. They had dancing music there last night. 
 

Another plus- there is a full library of travel, other non-fiction and fiction books available to borrow. Also, new games, and puzzles and plenty of room to work on them. See pics of that area. 
 

sharing other pics of the vista cabin, dining room (to see colors) and explorations lounge areas for information, as well as the tea tray. 
 

tonight is the first dressy night or whatever it is called now 😀

[idiebabe]

@Ready2go11  Happy to hear things seem to be improving with more Musicians coming Onboard, good food and Service.  Also, having the Music in Ocean Bar.  
 

 From what I understood Billboard was to be added when in DryDock in April, 2020 but great if it’s still the “old” Piano Bar.  We’re very interested in hearing more on the Entertainment and, of course, the food (😂).  If you get a chance can you post Pics of the Piano Bar, etc.  and the When and Where?  
 

We also took the HIA for B2B and glad we did.  That’s odd with the 2nd Drink now 25% off at Happy Hour.  On some of the other Ships it was 50% off.  
 

Thanks again for taking time to keep us posted!  😀

[rkacruiser]

This is a "maiden voyage" for the Zaandam.  There are going to be blips in the usual HAL experience.  If "Ian" is the "Ian" with whom I have sailed, those on the Zaandam have an excellent and well informed CD.  

[USN59-79]

43 minutes ago, Ready2go11 said:

There is a happy hour at 4 PM in the Ocean bar and the Crows Nest. There is also a late night happy hour at the Seaview pool at 9 PM. It is buy one, get one 25% off. I believe on my last sailing in Dec 2019, HH was buy one get one for a $1. I am fortunate to have the drink package and have sampled a number of drinks. 
 

While the Lido was crowded today, my lunch of noodles and peanut pork satay was very good. Afternoon tea was also very tasty and the service was good. One of the best I have experienced on HAL after many sailings on many ships.  My sister and I have been wearing our masks in public areas since we got on board except to eat and drink. I’d guess only 15-20% of others are wearing masks. All the crew are as they are required to do so. 
 

The cruise director said we are picking up some musicians in Boston, so there is hope yet for a string quartet. 
 

There is no billboard or music walk on Zaandam but they have an area on Deck 5 for piano and other live music and a separate bar area named Mix. They had dancing music there last night. 
 

Another plus- there is a full library of travel, other non-fiction and fiction books available to borrow. Also, new games, and puzzles and plenty of room to work on them. See pics of that area. 
 

sharing other pics of the vista cabin, dining room (to see colors) and explorations lounge areas for information, as well as the tea tray. 
 

tonight is the first dressy night or whatever it is called now 😀

Nice to see a library in these modern times.

[rkacruiser]

7 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

Nice to see a library in these modern times.

 

Indeed.  Maybe someone in Seattle heard our comments about the removal of a library whose shelves are full of books.  Maybe the thinking was:  why spend money to remove a a feature of this ship that many enjoy.  Then, replace it with what?  

[ScottishMaid]

We are on the Nieuw Amsterdam which has a capacity for about 2100 passengers. There are 1200 on this cruise, 650 on the last one and 550 on the Coastal before that and 800 on the next cruise. 

It is fully staffed at 850 crew and the dining places are open the usual times and days. The food choices were as usual so there must have been a wastage of food. There is a string quartet and the dancers are doing 3 shows per week. It was amazing sailing with more crew than passengers. We always like the small ships so this thread is eye opening. I can only think the NA was the first ship back whereas the Zaandam is one of the last. 

[BigMattT]

7 hours ago, Louise sail said:

We are signed on for a back to back starting in Montreal and signed with the idea that we would eat mainly in the dining room where we could be waited on while I recover from an injured leg.

 The classical musicians are a favourite part of our before dinner time.We paid top dollar for this cruise and we expect good service.We will be very disappointed if our expectations are not fulfilled.

 

We’re on Zaandam’s next sailing, so we’re watching things carefully as well.

 

I think it may be a bit premature to judge subsequent service levels based on a repositioning cruise, which is also a maiden sailing following nearly 800 days without passengers.

 

To be proactive, I would recommend asking HAL about any assistance you may need in the buffet due to your reduced mobility. (Those are port heavy itineraries, which wouldn’t have lunch available in the dining room under more traditional circumstances anyway…)

 

If dining room breakfast weren’t available on our sailing, I would likely ask nicely for the Club Orange enhanced room service menu for my stateroom nightly.

 

6 hours ago, Ready2go11 said:

Afternoon tea was also very tasty and the service was good. One of the best I have experienced on HAL after many sailings on many ships.

I’m very much looking forward to tea, then! We had planned to skip it after being disappointed with the Koningsdam’s. (HAL: if you’re reading: I would gladly pay a small upcharge for a premium Afternoon Tea on a Sea Day in Tamarind on Pinnacle class ships. Perfect space and theme for it.)

 

[bluesplayer]

Disappointed to hear about MDR closed for breakfast and lunch.  I would not like that at all.  That should be disclosed prior to sailing.

[Sir PMP]

Ship looks very good in my opinion.