Observations, first time on HAL. Zaandam 23Aug to 03 Sep 2023

[Aussieflyer]

Thanks for the 'blog' of observations. From your posts, I am not sure HAL is a good fit for us - think we will cough up the extra for Silversea or Seabourn in future, 

[NSWP]

Hi there young Lyle, Thanks for your  excellent  daily reports, concise and to the point.

 

Onwards ! 

[Blackduck59]

43 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Hi there young Lyle, Thanks for your  excellent  daily reports, concise and to the point.

 

Onwards ! 

Thanks Uncle Les. Live life full mate.

[OlsSalt]

6 hours ago, Aussieflyer said:

Thanks for the 'blog' of observations. From your posts, I am not sure HAL is a good fit for us - think we will cough up the extra for Silversea or Seabourn in future, 

 

I see Crystal is now back in the game, with just one ship for more high end cruising with emphasis on dining.  

 

Cost differential between HAL, let alone number of passengers served  and your preferred cruise line choices should have been a good clue what to expect at their competing pre diem costs.

[cruisemom42]

15 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

I will have observations about the disembarkation process as well as some comments about our post cruise hotel and the things we do during our short overnight stay in Montreal. 

 

Hope you'll also give your overall thoughts on HAL and likelihood of cruising with them again. Seems like you experienced some misfires as well as some positive experiences.

[C 2 C]

On 8/30/2023 at 8:39 AM, CruiserBruce said:

Food is totally subjective. If people think the food is great, that doesn't make them wrong, nor is your opinion wrong.

For example: I love tomatoes and every derivative, including Bloody Caesar.  I can't imagine being tomato intolerant.  "One man's (enter correct gender) meat, is another man's poison"

[C 2 C]

Blackduck59:

Thank you for your posts on Zaandam.

We are Celebrity cruisers but last year we cruised on the N Statendam from Quebec to Boston and back.  This spring we cruised on Zaandam from Montreal to Boston and back.  In two weeks we will sail on Zuiderdam from Quebec to Boston and back.

We are lucky enough to be within driving distance, only 8 hours to Montreal from Southern Ontario.  Although we enjoyed the small ship experience of Zaandam, especially the food, the experience was not up to the standards set by the N Statendam.  We really like the new class of ships compared to the new Celebrity Edge class.  We enjoyed the N Statendam so much we booked 8 weeks over the holidays in the Caribbean, Christmas to Feb 2023.  HAL is so good attracting loyal cruisers, we had over 700 back to backers in Dec., something we never experienced on Celebrity.

[Blackduck59]

The disembarkation process was absolutely painless. They asked people to pick up their tags a few days before. You could chose 3 different times (colour) and I think 3 different groups per colour. There were other colours and groups for transfers. Groups were called in order and on time. The only confusion was the Uber pick up zone and many people were frustrated, we dragged our gear over railway tracks when we didn't have to. Frankly Uber needs to sort that out. 

[MicCanberra]

I still struggle with Ubers surge rates, they can be ridiculously outrageous.

[Blackduck59]

We have had 4 Ubers today they weren't too expensive, we did choose the more premium rides. The last was the most comfortable, an Infiniti QX 60.

We did a lot of walking in the heat today, then we did the HOHO bus. I'm afraid I'm not that keen on them, the busses were extremely uncomfortable in Quebec City and here in Montreal. We had hot days in both cities and unless you sit in the blazing heat of the upper deck you don't see much. I think we will cross HOHO busses off our list of things to do.

Of course we are here on Sunday, the Basillica was not accepting visitors inside. Who would have thought they would be having church services in a church on Sunday 🤔. We ran into the same thing at Westminster Abbey a few years back.

Edited September 3, 2023 by Blackduck59

[cbr663]

8 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

We have had 4 Ubers today they weren't too expensive, we did choose the more premium rides. The last was the most comfortable, an Infiniti QX 60.

We did a lot of walking in the heat today, then we did the HOHO bus. I'm afraid I'm not that keen on them, the busses were extremely uncomfortable in Quebec City and here in Montreal. We had hot days in both cities and unless you sit in the blazing heat of the upper deck you don't see much. I think we will cross HOHO busses off our list of things to do.

Of course we are here on Sunday, the Basillica was not accepting visitors inside. Who would have thought they would be having church services in a church on Sunday 🤔. We ran into the same thing at Westminster Abbey a few years back.

 

We've had wonderful HOHO experiences in San Diego and in Norway.  Our absolute worse experience was in Vancouver.  Like you, it was a very uncomfortable ride and one I would not recommend anyone take.

[Mareblu]

57 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

 

We've had wonderful HOHO experiences in San Diego and in Norway.  Our absolute worse experience was in Vancouver.  Like you, it was a very uncomfortable ride and one I would not recommend anyone take.

We've had the same experiences, and are yet to endure an unfavourable HOHO.  In two locations where we were staying a while, some were so enjoyable that we repeated the ride on another day.

[Aussieflyer]

15 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

I see Crystal is now back in the game, with just one ship for more high end cruising with emphasis on dining.  

 

Cost differential between HAL, let alone number of passengers served  and your preferred cruise line choices should have been a good clue what to expect at their competing pre diem costs.

Whilst SS or similar are our preferred, I (not so much DH but then I will sail with friends) am also perfectly happy with Princess or Celebrity etc. And I accept the size and crew/pax ratio make a huge difference in terms of economy of scale. My comment was more that the OP's observations seemed to indicate that there were things about his HAL experience that maybe we would find disappointing. But if a great itinerary came up I wouldn't cross off HAL.

[Blackduck59]

Well I have to make this observation about the hotel we chose for our overnight stay post cruise. We chose L Hotel in Old Montreal, we chose poorly. I can not recommend this hotel in any way. The rate we paid was quite high the room was very ordinary and the bathroom was barely bigger than the one on Zaandam. We came down for the "included breakfast" and there were some pastries with a sign 2 pastries included more was an upcharge. What a joke, I have never wanted to leave a hotel faster. Do not under any circumstances book this overpriced, over rated hotel. 

[DaveOKC]

17 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

The disembarkation process was absolutely painless. They asked people to pick up their tags a few days before. You could chose 3 different times (colour) and I think 3 different groups per colour. There were other colours and groups for transfers. Groups were called in order and on time. The only confusion was the Uber pick up zone and many people were frustrated, we dragged our gear over railway tracks when we didn't have to. Frankly Uber needs to sort that out. 

Worst embarkation in almost 30 HAL cruises was in Montreal.  Taxi could not find the ship, which was 1/2 mile from the hotel.  Then the embarkation process was delayed about 2 hours with no place for hundreds of people to sit on a hot day!

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

Worst embarkation in almost 30 HAL cruises was in Montreal.  Taxi could not find the ship, which was 1/2 mile from the hotel.  Then the embarkation process was delayed about 2 hours with no place for hundreds of people to sit on a hot day!

 

Montreal was the worst experience for us, too. It was in an old terminal, close to the old town. Actually, it was more of a cowshed than a cruise terminal. Total chaos--they were giving out numbers to be called to check in, but if you didn't happen to walk in past the right person, you didn't get a number. Not that it mattered. Every time a HAL bus arrived, that group went right to check in, no waiting. I like Montreal, had a number of non-cruise visits, but I swore I'd never embark there again. I suppose now that there's a newer terminal, I should try it again.

 

@Blackduck59, I'm sorry you had such a bad hotel experience. And no, two pastries does NOT count as breakfast! I looked at their website, and the pictures look great. Just shows how a hotel can pick and choose what they show you.  Choosing a hotel can be a gamble, even when you do your research. We had an odd hotel stay in Montreal one time. We stayed a few days connecting Amtrak with Via to Quebec City so we wanted to be near the train station. The Fairmont right over the station was closed for a renovation, so we stayed across the street at the Bonaventure, a hotel on a few floors at the top of office building. It got mixed reviews on tripadvisor because of the odd situation of nothing at ground level. The architecture is "brutalist," a 1960s style, and a bit strange. But the rooms were fine and not ugly like the hallways people complained about on tripadvisor. And I'm sure it was less expensive than the Fairmont would have been. 

[Blackduck59]

We are now at the Via Rail station in Montreal we are traveling by train to Ottawa where we will stay 2 nights before going home to Victoria. 

I guess I will wrap up my observations for this cruise. I will respond to any questions asked.

We truly enjoyed the itinerary, we specifically chose it because it included Newfoundland. We were glad the Royal Canadian Legion stepped up and laid on the Screech In for us, I was especially keen to have it done. I was surprised that Lynn decided to do it too, so now we're both honourary Newfoundlanders.

The weather did impact our enjoyment of Halifax and Charlottetown. Although we did see and do the things that were important to us in those ports. Quebec City was lovely and we had an unexpected adventure with a pedicab, when he showed up at the perfect moment to rescue us from a long hot walk back to the ship. I think that one happy encounter was something we will laugh about when we recall Quebec City. 

Zaandam is a nice ship and we enjoyed the size, we never felt crowded and I  was surprised that there was never any congestion at the elevators. There was enough entertainment to satisfy our needs. The food was good but not outstanding. I was particularly disappointed not to see prime rib or Beef Wellington on any menu. The Explorations Café was out of Chai Latte for most of the cruise and I know many were disappointed by that.

I already voiced my concerns about the "Canadian Icons" presentation and the outcome. 

Some asked if we would book again with HAL, the answer is yes, and we have. We took advantage of the low deposit an OBC for booking on board, as well as  the early booking HIA bonus. We booked a 14 day New Zealand to Australia cruise in 2025.

[leafsnation]

Was on Zaandam outta Boston Canada NE and Iceland and greenland in August. Booked 2025 27 nite Amazon on Zaandam.

Hats off to Nelson Mgr at Pinnacle Grill,

bob

[C 2 C]

18 hours ago, Mareblu said:

We've had the same experiences, and are yet to endure an unfavourable HOHO.  In two locations where we were staying a while, some were so enjoyable that we repeated the ride on another day.

Loved San Francisco

[C 2 C]

4 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

Worst embarkation in almost 30 HAL cruises was in Montreal.  Taxi could not find the ship, which was 1/2 mile from the hotel.  Then the embarkation process was delayed about 2 hours with no place for hundreds of people to sit on a hot day!

We were there in May and had absolutely no problem.  Perhaps because I was the taxi driver and my Tom Tom found the parking garage right across from the terminal.  I believe we started to board about 11 but as you say, few seats were available.

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

Does anyone have a photo of the Gold Gala menu?

I just read a thread from zuiderdam last week , where menu offerings were identical, with the exception of the GF designations.   Being a GF diner, I was extremely unhappy that NONE of the Zaandam offerings that night (and many other nights) were listed as GF.   On Gold Gala night I was told that only item I could have was the beef, without sauce (really wanted the salmon, told I couldn’t have it, but zuiderdam menu from same night displayed it as GF).   I would love to send both to HAL to get an explanation of the “variation “ ….  But I did not take a photo of menu.

thanks!

[3rdGenCunarder]

10 minutes ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

Does anyone have a photo of the Gold Gala menu?

I just read a thread from zuiderdam last week , where menu offerings were identical, with the exception of the GF designations.   Being a GF diner, I was extremely unhappy that NONE of the Zaandam offerings that night (and many other nights) were listed as GF.   On Gold Gala night I was told that only item I could have was the beef, without sauce (really wanted the salmon, told I couldn’t have it, but zuiderdam menu from same night displayed it as GF).   I would love to send both to HAL to get an explanation of the “variation “ ….  But I did not take a photo of menu.

thanks!

 

Were you ordering the night before? From what I've seen of the menus (table companions ordering from a special menu), there usually are choices, not just one thing. 

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

I had not been to MDR for several days, so did not get a chance to preorder (since it seems to be only an option IF you dine in MDR the prior night).

my question is regarding the actual menu offering…the designations of same items on same menu on same same day on two different ships were NOT the same.

 

[Blackduck59]

3 hours ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

I had not been to MDR for several days, so did not get a chance to preorder (since it seems to be only an option IF you dine in MDR the prior night).

my question is regarding the actual menu offering…the designations of same items on same menu on same same day on two different ships were NOT the same.

 

My guess is that the salmon was dredged in flour. I really don't know what would be so hard to grab a portion of salmon, not dredge it and pan fry it in butter. That seems a simple solution. I do sympathize with those who have allergies and or conditions for which certain foods can be very painful or even fatal. 

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

16 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

My guess is that the salmon was dredged in flour. I really don't know what would be so hard to grab a portion of salmon, not dredge it and pan fry it in butter. That seems a simple solution. I do sympathize with those who have allergies and or conditions for which certain foods can be very painful or even fatal. 

They said it was breaded, so not an option….BUT same menu on Zuiderdam that night said it was GF… I don’t understand