Zaandam Review

4.0 / 5.0
558 reviews

Zaandam to Hawaii

Review for Hawaii Cruise on Zaandam
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dutch46
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Mar 2008

We travelled to San Diego one day early to avoid any airline problems. Boarding went without problems and we met some wonderful people in the line waiting to board. Cabins were ready within one hour of boarding and luggage was in the room well before the Fire Drill. The sail away party on the Lido deck aft was well worth attending and served as an introduction to the Event Staff (Jason, Andrew, Amanda, Cassie, and Drew) Lunch followed with Jason and Andrew and then our first day with the open dining. The ability to eat whenever one wanted was good, but we missed having a regular group of dining room staff at our table. The trip to Hawaii was good in spite of the cooler weather the first two days of the trip. My wife caught the virus on the first day we were in Hawaii and the staff of the Zaandam did everything for her except give her a tiara. The efforts of the crew to contain the virus were outstanding and the virus would have been contained quickly had passengers reported their illness in a more timely manner. There were about 112 passengers and crew ill on the ship and who knows how many more that went unreported. There was more than enough to do and we tried to do most of it (at least on sea days). We met a number of interesting people on the cruise including a few members of CC. Disembarkation was the quickest I have ever seen from a cruise ship. Kudos to the personnel at San Diego. The entertainment was good as usual and Chris Pendleton was exceptionally funny. Mike McCullough was great as a Niel Diamond impersonator. The shows were good although one of the female singers had a cruise from hell (Flu, caught the virus, knocked out during a performance). Some of the complaining passengers got a little old towards the end of the cruise but we were able to steer clear of most of them.

The submarine dive in Maui provided great viewing of the reefs and a ship that had been sunk to create a new reef. Snorkeling in Kona provided even more beautiful views of the underwater life there.

I would rate this as one of the better cruises we have been on, second only to the Alaska cruise. For those who find so much to complain about, try carnival next time.

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