Live From Zaandam May 20 - 27, 2023

[sunviking90]

2 hours ago, woodworker&knitter said:

Plastic grocery bags were banned in Canada as of December 2022

Not quite. We still have them here in Vancouver but most places charge for them. Walmart of all places doesn’t have them at all. I don’t go there often and was surprised. Victoria has banned plastic bags. I always have a light fabric bag folded in my purse, just in case.

[Crazy For Cats]

Good Morning,  we has to go through customs this morning.  We were required to be in the dining room at 6:45, ship docked shortly after 7, agents arrived at 7:30. No one was happy. HAL did not provide any updates or serve breakfast. Some guests had 8:15 excursions. 

After a quick breakfast in the lido disembarking was quick. I noticed a long line of taxis waiting for guests. Big change from last year.

[3rdGenCunarder]

23 minutes ago, Crazy For Cats said:

Good Morning,  we has to go through customs this morning.  We were required to be in the dining room at 6:45, ship docked shortly after 7, agents arrived at 7:30. No one was happy. HAL did not provide any updates or serve breakfast. Some guests had 8:15 excursions. 

After a quick breakfast in the lido disembarking was quick. I noticed a long line of taxis waiting for guests. Big change from last year.

 

Didn't you do immigration and customs in Bar Harbor? 

[Crazy For Cats]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Didn't you do immigration and customs in Bar Harbor? 

In Bar Harbor it was immigration only.  They want to check on anyone who shopped on board until the ship docked at Boston.

[3rdGenCunarder]

41 minutes ago, Crazy For Cats said:

In Bar Harbor it was immigration only.  They want to check on anyone who shopped on board until the ship docked at Boston.

 

Ugh, that means lining up twice. I've always found Bar Harbor immigration smooth, despite agents having to tender to the ship. But Boston has almost always been awful. They send too few agents and the few they send show up late and won't do anything until someone brings them coffee.

 

I haven't seen much attention paid to the customs part of it in years. Was there that much good stuff to buy on the ship? 

[Crazy For Cats]

1 minute ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Ugh, that means lining up twice. I've always found Bar Harbor immigration smooth, despite agents having to tender to the ship. But Boston has almost always been awful. They send too few agents and the few they send show up late and won't do anything until someone brings them coffee.

 

I haven't seen much attention paid to the customs part of it in years. Was there that much good stuff to buy on the ship? 

If your on board spending is less than the allowed amount you will not need to go to customs.  If you qualify to be seen you will get a notice on your last full day.  The disembarkation line seemed to move quickly.

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 minute ago, Crazy For Cats said:

If your on board spending is less than the allowed amount you will not need to go to customs.  If you qualify to be seen you will get a notice on your last full day.  The disembarkation line seemed to move quickly.

 

That's a good way to handle it. My onboard spending is never near the limit. 

 

 

 

[Greebo]

What is the spending limit?

[rafinmd]

I have no reusable grocery bags.  I do all my shopping with HAL blue tote bags for smaller purchases and Crystal for larger ones.

 

Roy

[Crazy For Cats]

46 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

That's a good way to handle it. My onboard spending is never near the limit. 

 

 

 

Mine wasn’t near the limit this cruise.

[Crazy For Cats]

14 minutes ago, Greebo said:

What is the spending limit?

I think it’s $800 but I could be wrong.

[Destiny0315]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

I've always found Bar Harbor immigration smooth, despite agents having to tender to the ship.

Two weeks ago on a late morning tender going from the Zaandam to Bar Harbor, around six armed immigration agents joined us for the ride. I commented to the person next to me that no pirates were going to hijack this boat!

[lissie]

7 hours ago, Crazy For Cats said:

If your on board spending is less than the allowed amount you will not need to go to customs.  If you qualify to be seen you will get a notice on your last full day.  The disembarkation line seemed to move quickly.

So this is only if you've bought booze etc on board? Those of us who don't shop can skip the whole thing? 

[Crazy For Cats]

45 minutes ago, lissie said:

So this is only if you've bought booze etc on board? Those of us who don't shop can skip the whole thing? 

Most likely. 

[Crazy For Cats]

Good Morning, it’s the morning after disembarkation. My wake up service at home is still working, the cats wanted breakfast.

We were in cabin 3334 and the location was selected by the Future Cruise Consultant on the NA. We found the location excellent.  It was a few steps from the promenade deck, very close to the Ocean Bar and a short walk to mid elevators to get morning coffee. The only challenge with the room was the ac/heat. Typically the middle setting will be comfortable. On this cruise that setting could make the room too warm or feel like an ice box. My only recommendation for the room is to bring an adapter to turn the one outlet into multiple with USB ports, especially if one of you uses a CPAP.  It seemed like only one of the two cabin stewards took care of us and he did an excellent job.

We did three specialty dinners.  I pre booked Canaletto for the first night and then booked it again once on board. We also had a dinner and lunch in the PG, service was excellent on both occasions.  The other nights we ate in the lido and found that the lines could be very long at the opening bell.  One night I used the taco bar for dinner since the lido selections were too fishy for me.  The international section continues to be my favorite spot to grab lunch.  The food was excellent and the lines usually short.  The Dive In Burgers were good and on a busy day the wait wasn’t too long.

The entertainment on the ship is lacking and we are not fans of the One Step productions.  The in room tv service was upgraded since we sailed on the Zaandam last summer.  We watched four movies during the week as our evening entertainment. 
This cruise was booked as an inexpensive get away and as a test on OV for retirement cruises.  We booked the mid price that isn’t advertised.  We did not book HIA and for us on this cruise it was the correct choice.  An OV will not be a problem in the future and for the right price I’d consider an inside. On the promenade deck we noticed that some passengers like to look into the cabin, so we would close the curtains when getting dressed. Also at night light from outside leaks into the room. Putting the daytime pillows on the window sill and using a hanger to tighten the close did a reasonable job of minimizing the light.

We will be doing this itinerary again in July.  On this cruise we will have a balcony. Looking forward to being back on board.

[happycr]

Thanks for taking the time to post, Jake.  Your comments were really helpful for future cruises on the Zandaam.

 

 

[BetsyS.]

If my memory is correct, there was a line at Customs in Boston last August 

for people who spent more than $10,000 on jewelry. It was quite a long line!

 I didn't buy any jewelry. I was on the Niew Statendam.

           In Iceland I went to a grocery store and they had no bags at all. 

I'm glad  I had my HAL tote bag with me.  The cashier sold me her  

last 20 stamps and the store was open on Sunday.