Zaandam Review 8/7/09

[songbert]

We were on your cruise, and our first stop was of course the Lido for lunch. Rachel and the Hal Cats were performing. I took one look at my SO, listening to Rachel, and said: "Is she really that bad, or am I just

being bit$&y?" (I sing, and tend to be very critical). He nodded and said:

"let's go inside to eat".

 

HAL must have a tone-deaf panel auditioning talent. Dale was a total turn-off. Whoever hired Rachel really needs a refresher course in music.

 

I must admit, the string quartet was fabulous (although, they

were so emotionless, I could only listen, not watch). The Neptunes weren't too bad. The top two show singers had genuine talent, and we

really enjoyed the saxophonist (Craig Richard).

 

Elliott Maxx was a riot!! His "It's a Small Room, After All" and impression

of a cruise ship toilet had us in hysterics!!

 

We had a wonderful time in spite of all the foibles!!!

[lettienets]

Re Screamette and the Halcats, there were a couple of fellows named HalFans who used to post here but got disenchanted with HAL entertainment and were going to cruise with another line. Does anybody know where they disappeared to?

[DougMacP]

Looks like they're going to do a Celebrity cruise. Not a bad thing to move things around and check out other lines. It's not like the return cruisers perks are so good on any line that you would owe them your complete allegiance. If it's entertainment they're after they would be better served to check out Norwegian or (I hate to say this) Carnival. Celebrity in my opinion only does a slightly better job than HAL when it comes to lounge acts and production shows.

[BlackJack2]

We were on the Zaandam in July. We ate lunch on the Lido the first day and Rachel and the HalCats were performing. The band was good; Rachel was terrible. We had a couple of beers and she was still terrible. We figured that she knew someone in the corp. office!!

[cruisinmom68]

We were on the Zaandam in May and the piano bar was our favorite.We are only in our 30's but the gentleman was so kind and welcoming that we we went back every night.

 

His name was IAN... and although he was a little rough around the edges as far as his singing voice, his piano playing was superb. He seranaded my husband and I and it was just beautiful!