We flew to San Diego on Saturday morning the day before our Nov 7 round trip cruise to Hawaii on the Holland America Zaandam. We stayed at the Days Inn Harbor View because they offered shuttle service from the airport to the hotel, from the hotel to the ship, and breakfast. We got to the hotel at 11:00 am and were able to check in. The type of room we reserved was not ready, so they gave us a deluxe queen room. We were satisfied with the hotel. Our room was clean, and the location was good. We were 2 or 3 blocks from Little Italy, so we walked there for lunch and had our choice of about 25 restaurants. There was a lot of activity, with a singing group and some of the street blocked off for booths of all kinds. On the way back to the hotel we were able to stop at a grocery store to pick up a couple of bottles of wine and some diet cokes to take with us on the ship. Breakfast was very limited, but we enjoyed eating at the outside tables and people watching. After breakfast we enjoyed a walk along the harbor to our ship and back to the hotel.
Our shuttle got to the ship about 11:00 am and we went through security, check in and received our sign and sail card without any delay. Since we were a little early, we were given a group number and directed to sit in the waiting area. After about 20 minutes or so they started boarding the ship by groups. We probably were on board by 12:00, and had lunch. Our rooms were not ready until about 1:30.
I had read some very negative reviews of this older ship, and our room was not a luxury hotel suite type, but it was very adequate. We always book a mid-ship ocean view stateroom on a lower deck. The room and bath were clean and everything worked. We unpacked our four suitcases, put them under the bed and had unused drawer, shelf and storage space. Our room steward was very good. He had an assistant but they had 30 cabins to see about. He brought our luggage into our room, instead of just leaving it outside our door. He always said hello when he saw us in the hall and if we walked by him he would spend a few minutes making small talk with us. During the cruise, one of the lights over our bed went out and the next day (without me reporting it) an electrician came to our room and took care of it. Our room had 4 pillows, but none of them were like my pillow at home. My wife liked her pillow and the bed, but I found my side of the bed too hard (you just can't please everyone). We had no problems with the layout or public areas of the ship.