we (90 yr old husb and i, 67 yrs) selected this itinerary because the travel agent had a group going and included train transport as well as all transfers from train to ship and reverse. no flying required, which is best for my husb. MS Zaandam is the second Holland vessel we've booked. ship's company, hotel and restaurant staffs are wonderful, professional and hard working. from previous experience i suspected that food service might be rocky the first couple of days and a comment in Rotterdam dining room the first night indicated that a 'new program' for food service had been instituted and no one was happy. many fewer restaurant staff in evidence, no wine stewards, food inedible. everything improved by day three and although i still think that staffing levels are lower than our previous experience, service was excellent with truly charming people helping us. food was great, for the most part, from that day forward. [i'm a picky eater, so i'll order two or three appetizers, no dessert; husb loves everything, especially dessert!]. husb made cabin reservations and although we were able to get a cabin with handicapped accessible shower (saints be praised), the cabin was not the deluxe verandah which i expected and had experienced previously. oh well. weather was rough for a couple of days, which we have to expect in the winter and, because we like to sail, we enjoyed the four sea days and i wore a patch, just in case. i discussed previous problems at Hilo with our travel agent: port security is tight and Holland ties up right in the middle of the action, necessitating independent cruising visitors to walk a very long distance (for a 90 yr old with rheu arth) to catch a cab. we (travel agent and i) thought we had solved the problem with Holland providing golf cart for handicapped folk, but that was not the case. oh well #2. we had a great time and the old boy managed to enjoy his Bananas Foster at Cafe Pesto while i drank a reviving glass of cab sauv. got my Japanese fabric, my new dress for SIG ZANE (and yes, i know caps indicate shouting, but i love SIG ZANE clothes). we lucked upon a volunteer with a Hilo booster group who managed to talk her way past security and we got very close to the ship on our return. we visited family in maui and left the ship a week early in honolulu, flying home at our own expense. no refund requested or offered.

problems: handicapped accessible shower had a shower stool upon our arrival which disappeared while we were at our truly awful first dinner in Rotterdam dining room. no ship's employee could provide information on aforementioned stool nor was a replacement provided until 1400 hrs on day two. poor husb had to spend that time with a little washcloth refresher. sea was too rough for him to even stand and hang on to the grab bars while i hosed him down.

he fell on a trip to the toilet in the night but was not hurt. since i could not find anyone who was able to solve the mystery of the shower stool and i couldn't get anyone to answer 'at your service' button on the phone, i started asking every employee i met from 7 am on day two about our stool. Read more