This was a bucket list cruise for my wife. All the ports and excursions surpassed both our expectations. The narration by Exploration Team as we sailed into and around Antarctica was superb. Zaandam is a typical HA ship, one of their smaller ones with a nice cozy feel. We are 4 Star Mariners, with lots of cruising experience and always appreciate HA’s itineraries and attention to detail on their ships.

The major problem with this cruise was with an unknown outbreak on the ship at about day 3. CabIn attendants in full body protective garb stripping and cleaning rooms. Ship doctor with clipboard not entering room, but staying in hallway to supervise. Hand sanitizer stations suddenly appearing on Lido deck manned wIth attendants telling people to use them. Many passengers that we spoke to observed same thing on their decks. Not sure if it was a norovirus outbreak, or something else.

Disappointing that there was no communication from captain about the issue, which continued for most of the trip. Would have liked to seen some communication on what the situation was, as well as measures that passengers could/should have taken.