HAL ZAANDAM review
We took the 22 days cruise from Kobe to Vancouver on the Zaandam as part of a trip around the world that had started mid - March in Brazil with a Trans -Atlantic cruise on the Oceania Insignia . Overall , it proved to be a good decision and we did enjoy that section of our journey.
The Zaandam is a small ship by the new standards and is perfect to reach small ports ...
I am in my 60's and my wife 50's and travelled with our son 12. We are seasoned cruisers and have been on Carnival, Celebrity and this was the 3rd time on HAL. We
lived in Hong Kong and it is only 5 minutes walk from my home to the pier.
We booked this cruise through an local agent.On the day of embarkation we met the guide at the pier. Before we checked in we had to carry our luggages to ...
Background Information
It was cruise no. 47. We went before on HAL's EURODAM and WESTERDAM and had some concerns. We made already the experience that you CAN make very good experiences with HAL but also few single items ended in a desaster. We loved the Signature-/Vista-Class Ships and had some concerns before because the price of the balconies was extremely high.
Furthermore we booked ...
Our trip began in Hong Kong after a long flight from Kansas City. We added the extra night at Holland America's hotel of choice which was a great hotel but we were there for a very short time due to travel time that it hardly seemed worthwhile. We were at the hotel by midnight and left to go to the ship at noon the next day.
Comment about the Zaandam: We think that Holland America and the ...
Talking to fellow cruisers as we were transferred from the airport in Hong Kong we felt that the ship was going to be sparkly and exciting, a big step up from our previous cruises (that were both excellent) with Thompsons. Embarkation was fast and efficient, but the initial impression of the ship was poor. We were due to sail at 11pm on the following evening, nothing happened till about 12:30 ...
My husband and I have cruised many times, some with family and some on our own. Living in Miami, we covered the Caribbean pretty well. Now that we live in Hawaii, we looked to the East (well, to the west from here!) and decided to give Holland America a try with their Asia cruise on the MS Zaandam.
We started our voyage in Singapore. It was simple enough to reach the port on the MRT from our ...
We joined Zaandam in Hong Kong. Departure was delayed by 2 hours because a few Russians on board could not understand English & therefore did not go to immigration clearance. After 2 hours of broadcasts looking for those guest the officials decided to translate the message in Russian & only then we finally set sail. They knew which room numbers were missing, surely they could have made the ...
We have taken several cruises, all in different parts of the world, as we like to cruise to enjoy different cultures. We arrived in Hong Kong a few days before the cruise and stayed in the very convenient Marco Polo Hotel right at the cruise terminal. On the morning of embarkation, we arrived at the terminal at 10.30am to find they were already opening up. We were among the first passengers to ...
We were on the 28 day cruise - Singapore - Hong Kong via Cambodia,
Thailand, Vietnam, China and Korea. This cruise was advertised as a Collectors cruise. To our disappointment this was a back - back cruise. With that concept we were subjected to the same food selections in the dinning room, and repeat entertainment (the ships singers & dancers) on the second segment of the cruise. Having ...
Have never before complained about a cruise, but our experience, coupled with comments by veteran HAL cruisers on this same cruise, convinced us this was a disaster experience.
GENERAL APPEARANCE of Zaandam: Others commented on worn interiors (and even ship's exterior) so I won't repeat those criticisms.
CUISINE: Expected excellent cuisine but this was not the case. Menus repeated in second ...