LIVE: Zaandam 6/4 - 6/11, Montreal - Boston

[nyold]

Dive in and early dinner buffet. Dance show In Tandem was pretty good, mostly ballroom dancing style with heavy Latin influence, plus a solo vocal. My favorite is still Musicology. Oh please please release the DVD (or on youtube or something)

[nyold]

Dinner. California roll (one roll was good, the rest OK). Coconut crusted shrimp was good. Halibut was great, prime rib was too slathered with cream and wasnt rare enough. Tasted like buffet prime rib, but the fatty part was good.

 

Strudel was great, light and not too sweet. Puff pastry a tad dry but the mousse inside was nice, smooth and dark.

 

Towel elephant, and then saying goodbyes to the servers that made an impression, and then packing. I am sad now.

[nyold]

Last picture from me. Used the gym in the morning before disembarking. Oh well so long and thank you for all the delicious fishes, see you again hopefully soon, Holland America!

[Florida_gal_50]

Thank you for your wonderful live from thread.  Have a pleasant trip home.

[nyold]

My general impression: this is our first cruise with HAL. The food is of course delicious, and the service also very good. When they get to serve you, they will try anything to please you and for that I commend them. However, I notice that there are some areas where it felt like they were understaffed. In particular, MDR breakfast, Dive In, and the Lido Bar. It's almost always a long wait before your orders are even taken. Maybe it is covid related? Or just getting the "jitters" out as they're resuming sailing? Not sure. 

 

I do think that their IT department needs some serious upgrade. The wifi worked fine, but the app is just so confusing to use. There are also so many different "passes" to use: arriveCan, veriFly, Navigator app, etc. I understood them because I happen to be tech savvy, and even then, this forum was really helpful. I cannot imagine that for your average HAL cruiser that they would be able to navigate this complexity. I understand that some things are outside of HAL's control (like arriveCan and verifly), but the emails that they sent out were barely helpful. It just said something like "make sure you check our website" and the website was a total maze. 

 

For example: when boarding, they kept saying "prepare your boarding pass" and for the whole time, verifly was enough. But on the actual gangway, they needed to scan our barcode, which can be found in the boarding pass document (that we should have printed but I didn't think we needed to because we had verifly) OR navigator app (which couldn't load). Luckily they were able to pull our info using passport, but even then there was another group of passengers with the same last name so that got messy. It was not a big deal, it's just.... this was our first impression literally on the ship. 

 

In the future I would probably want to try a bigger ship from HAL and compare. I have no complain about our current ship size, it's quiet and elegant and we had a wonderful time, that's all that matters.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, nyold said:

My general impression: this is our first cruise with HAL. The food is of course delicious, and the service also very good. When they get to serve you, they will try anything to please you and for that I commend them. However, I notice that there are some areas where it felt like they were understaffed. In particular, MDR breakfast, Dive In, and the Lido Bar. It's almost always a long wait before your orders are even taken. Maybe it is covid related? Or just getting the "jitters" out as they're resuming sailing? Not sure. 

 

I do think that their IT department needs some serious upgrade. The wifi worked fine, but the app is just so confusing to use. There are also so many different "passes" to use: arriveCan, veriFly, Navigator app, etc. I understood them because I happen to be tech savvy, and even then, this forum was really helpful. I cannot imagine that for your average HAL cruiser that they would be able to navigate this complexity. I understand that some things are outside of HAL's control (like arriveCan and verifly), but the emails that they sent out were barely helpful. It just said something like "make sure you check our website" and the website was a total maze. 

 

For example: when boarding, they kept saying "prepare your boarding pass" and for the whole time, verifly was enough. But on the actual gangway, they needed to scan our barcode, which can be found in the boarding pass document (that we should have printed but I didn't think we needed to because we had verifly) OR navigator app (which couldn't load). Luckily they were able to pull our info using passport, but even then there was another group of passengers with the same last name so that got messy. It was not a big deal, it's just.... this was our first impression literally on the ship. 

 

In the future I would probably want to try a bigger ship from HAL and compare. I have no complain about our current ship size, it's quiet and elegant and we had a wonderful time, that's all that matters.

I absolutely love all the pinnacle ships.  They are contemporary and they have lots of very nice specialty restaurants.  I’m not a fan of the old ornate hal ships.

[cruisetravlr]

nyold, thanks so much for your report on the Zaandam.  We are planning to go on this cruise next year. Your pictures are absolutely beautiful! How did you find the experience of sailing the St. Lawrence River? That is one of the main reasons we are looking at Montreal as either the start or end. Also, after seeing your pictures of Montreal, I will now be planning on a few days to enjoy that beautiful city. Thanks for letting me “travel” along.  🙂

[Mary229]

3 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I absolutely love all the pinnacle ships.  They are contemporary and they have lots of very nice specialty restaurants.  I’m not a fan of the old ornate hal ships.

The Pinnacle ships don’t go to Montreal.  If you want to start in Quebec City you can sail on the N.Statendam 

Edited June 11, 2022 by Mary229

[nyold]

1 minute ago, cruisetravlr said:

nyold, thanks so much for your report on the Zaandam.  We are planning to go on this cruise next year. Your pictures are absolutely beautiful! How did you find the experience of sailing the St. Lawrence River? That is one of the main reasons we are looking at Montreal as either the start or end. Also, after seeing your pictures of Montreal, I will now be planning on a few days to enjoy that beautiful city. Thanks for letting me “travel” along.  🙂

 

Thank you for your kind words!

 

My parents were asking about this river cruising experience too. I think the bottom line is that "to each their own."

* My in laws felt that seeing land constantly doesn't feel like you're on the open sea (because you're not 😆) so they felt better once we're actually in the ocean.

* I initially romanticized the idea of river cruising, comparing it to the river cruises in Europe. However, soon after we left the city limits, it stopped being houses and started being forests with factory chimneys seen here and there. I see some huge industrial complexes at night too. 

* The rocking is much less on the river. It was very gentle and comfortable.

* There were insects outside the window in the evening. Even when we were in the MDR (deck 5), we could see large mosquitoes right outside the window. I mean from their point of view, this ship is probably the only source of light for miles around, right?

 

All in all, I don't think I'd want to do the river for more than 2 days, but for 2 days it was absolutely fine and provided a "taste" of river cruising.

 

Hope you get to go and enjoy the cruise as well!

 

[Florida_gal_50]

3 hours ago, Mary229 said:

The Pinnacle ships don’t go to Montreal.  If you want to start in Quebec City you can sail on the N.Statendam 

I didn’t say they did.  The op said they might like a bigger ship.

[Mary229]

1 minute ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I didn’t say they did.  The op said they might like a bigger ship.

I was just offering a suggestion for any reader, sorry 

[rkacruiser]

20 hours ago, nyold said:

prime rib was too slathered with cream and wasnt rare enough

 

It's an insult to Prime Rib to slather it with so much sauce.  

 

7 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

They are contemporary and they have lots of very nice specialty restaurants.  I’m not a fan of the old ornate hal ships.

 

I'll agree that the art/decor on the Pinnacle Class ships is contemporary, but, it is not to my understanding.  Maybe if the art works had some kind of title/explanation attached to them, I could better appreciate them.  The variety of dining venues certainly is a plus for the Pinnacle Class ships.  

[rkacruiser]

nyold, thank you so much for taking us along on your cruise!  Your reports have been well written and the photos have positively added to your reports.  

[nyold]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

nyold, thank you so much for taking us along on your cruise!  Your reports have been well written and the photos have positively added to your reports.  

Thank you!

 

About Montreal, I think another commenter showed a picture of 2 bridges that the ship must pass under in order to go to Quebec, so that limits the size of the ship that can go to Montreal. I don't think Zaandam is the "maximum size," maybe you can go a class higher or two, but probably not Pinnacle.

 

That being said, there is also another discussion on a different thread about Zaandam's lack of food options between lunch and dinner. There is Dive In bar and that's it, and sometimes when excursions are delayed for whatever reasons, people come back hungry well after lido is closed, and Dive In is slammed. On a pinnacle class, this would not have been a problem as there are other options. I would like to try that class next time (for whichever destination / season that makes sense, and if there's a fare deal all the better 😁)

[Dismomx5]

Thank you for packing us in your suitcase! I've enjoyed the cruise!

[ShipsAreTheBest]

3 hours ago, nyold said:

 

About Montreal, I think another commenter showed a picture of 2 bridges that the ship must pass under in order to go to Quebec, so that limits the size of the ship that can go to Montreal. I don't think Zaandam is the "maximum size," maybe you can go a class higher or two, but probably not Pinnacle.

 

 

Thanks for taking us along.  Interesting to compare this sailing from the one before ( which I was on).

 

As far as going to Montreal, Zaandam is the maximum size (for HAL, which pretty much eliminates any other major cruise line from going). Vista class and larger have too great an air draft (height above water) to fit under the bridges between Quebec and Montreal .

Edited June 12, 2022 by ShipsAreTheBest

[nyold]

44 minutes ago, ShipsAreTheBest said:

Thanks for taking us along.  Interesting to compare this sailing from the one before ( which I was on).

 

As far as going to Montreal, Zaandam is the maximum size (for HAL, which pretty much eliminates any other major cruise line from going). Vista class and larger have too great an air draft (height above water) to fit under the bridges between Quebec and Montreal .

 

Thank you! How would you compare it against your sailing? I am curious especially how Boston-Montreal would have been, because we were debating between the two directions. 

[Newly Retired Teachers]

Was Pickleball offered on Zaandam?  We will be sailing on her for the Voyage of the Vikings and would like to know if we should bring our paddles.

Bob & Steve

[nyold]

9 minutes ago, Newly Retired Teachers said:

Was Pickleball offered on Zaandam?  We will be sailing on her for the Voyage of the Vikings and would like to know if we should bring our paddles.

Bob & Steve

 

In this Where and When:

You can see that there is a pickleball tournament. I see the net is perpetually there on deck 9 even when walking around, but I don't see it being used that much. So YMMV (unless you are playing against each other in which case you'd be fine). 

[Buffett123]

14 hours ago, nyold said:

 

Thank you! How would you compare it against your sailing? I am curious especially how Boston-Montreal would have been, because we were debating between the two directions. 

We were on Rotterdam in march the four us caught Covid the last couple of days so doing Montreal to Boston on July 2 so we won’t be quarantined in Canada for any period of time buffett123

[Arkansas cruisers]

Thanks so much for your well written and informative travelogue.

Is there a page of the When  and Where that shows the times for the various  food service venues ? Did I miss it?

 Thanks!

[nyold]

7 hours ago, Arkansas cruisers said:

Thanks so much for your well written and informative travelogue.

Is there a page of the When  and Where that shows the times for the various  food service venues ? Did I miss it?

 Thanks!

Hi @Arkansas cruisers,

I'm so sorry, yes there is that info on the back of each day's When and Where but I didn't take it because I thought it was the same every day.

 

Basically the gist is:

Lido dinner is open from 5:30 to 9, whereas Main Dining Room is open 5:30, so it's comparable.

Dive In closes at 5:30 pm, but opens maybe 11 ish?

 

Lido lunch is around 11-2, and MDR lunch is only open on sea days and it was 12-1. If you enter at 12:55, you can stay there until a bit later I guess, so 12-1 refers to the time you ENTER the restaurant.

 

For breakfast, it's something like 6 am for Lido, and  7:30 for MDR. Room service is 24 hours, but for breakfast you would use a doorknob thing that you hang before midnight, and you indicate the preferred time of delivery between 6-8.

 

[love_the_sea]

On 6/4/2022 at 3:51 PM, nyold said:

But both in the old and new rooms there were envelopes with 2 sets of keys, all working.

Thanks so much for this review with all the information and pictures. I am doing the final cruise of the season, Montreal to Fort Lauderdale. Seems like a lot has changed since I last cruised on HAL in the fall of 2019. Sounds like you have to have the Navigator app for excursions? No excursion tickets? 

And of course the whole boarding process with the Covid tests etc. is different. You mentioned in one of the early posts that "room keys were in the room" (see quote above). This seemed strange to me as always before the room key is a card that you get at check in and that you have to show to security to get on the ship. In fact every cruise I have been on (HAL and other lines) was that way. Can you explain? Thanks. 

[*Miss G*]

17 minutes ago, love_the_sea said:

You mentioned in one of the early posts that "room keys were in the room" (see quote above). This seemed strange to me as always before the room key is a card that you get at check in and that you have to show to security to get on the ship. In fact every cruise I have been on (HAL and other lines) was that way. Can you explain? Thanks. 

 

Your key cards will be in an envelope in the “mailbox” outside your cabin door.

[nyold]

8 hours ago, love_the_sea said:

Thanks so much for this review with all the information and pictures. I am doing the final cruise of the season, Montreal to Fort Lauderdale. Seems like a lot has changed since I last cruised on HAL in the fall of 2019. Sounds like you have to have the Navigator app for excursions? No excursion tickets? 

And of course the whole boarding process with the Covid tests etc. is different. You mentioned in one of the early posts that "room keys were in the room" (see quote above). This seemed strange to me as always before the room key is a card that you get at check in and that you have to show to security to get on the ship. In fact every cruise I have been on (HAL and other lines) was that way. Can you explain? Thanks. 

Ah right, I should say "there were envelopes right outside the rooms." Those envelopes have the keys that you need to get into the rooms, as the other commenter pointed it out. After that point, correct that these cards are the ones you have to show to security to get on / off the ship, to buy drinks, etc.

 

We did use navigator app installed on each person's phone, and that was nice because then everyone can look up the schedule without having to carry around the where and when. It was quite a pain actually to try to log on to the app for each person because everybody forgot their usernames and passwords and we did have to go to Guest Services once to reset an account because someone mistyped his email address 😅 But yes, we never got the excursion tickets in the room. The only information available on the meeting time and place was on the app itself, or I guess you could ask the shorex desk. However, the app is not needed to get on the bus. The guide can scan either your app barcode or your key card.