Having cruised on 20 other ships, I must include this Holland America Zaandam as one of the top 3. The detail to customer service was far superior to many other cruise liners. I booked less than 5 weeks prior to traveling and requested an early seating. When I received the tickets, I was disappointed when I found that I had been placed on the late seating itinerary. Once on board, I voiced my objection to the seating and hoped for the best. Although I was not able to eat in the dinning room the first night, the ship's dinning director gave me an early seating in the Marco Polo Restaurant. The following day he had made arrangements for me to be seated in the Main Dinning Restaurant at my requested early seating. On the sixth night I was celebrating an anniversary and the dinning staff made a point to make it memorable without my reminding them.
Exercise will now become a part of my life until I have lost the 5 extra pounds that I thoroughly enjoyed accumulating on my body as I dined on totally divine appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, and deserts. Speaking of exercise, I managed to tire myself out as I hotfooted it around the 3rd deck (3.5 times around=1 mile) about every other day. There is ample room to walk but forget the jogging or running, it just isn't allowed on this particular deck. I decided that the spa might give me a change of pace so I attempted to cycle, lift a few additional pounds (weights), and workout with the aerobics instructor.
Now this is where, if I have a complaint, I need to log it! This English gentleman instructor was as motivational as a flounder at the bottom of the sea. He mumbled his way through un-instructed aerobic exercises and left newbies wondering what the heck just happened.