With boarding 1300+ people boarding a cruise boat can be a mess. The cruise lines have done it so many times that they have learned how to process people efficiently. I dropped Seven at the cruise terminal at 11:30am then took our car to a parking lot a couple of miles away. The parking lot's shuttle brought me back to the terminal. Seven had already been processed and was waiting for me at the check out counter so I got through quickly. We got our ID cards that is used for everything on the ship from a room key to a debit card. We had to certify that we are germ free.
One of the few hitches in the boarding procedure is that our rooms were not going to be ready until 1:30pm and our luggage would not be taken to the cabin until later. So, to kill some time, we had lunch with a nice couple from Las Vegas who were on about their 10th cruise with Holland America. It seems that once people who like to cruise find a cruise line they like they use it almost exclusively. We had a lot to talk about and the hour or so we had to wait for our cabin passed very quickly. One of the best part of cruising is the people you meet.
The Zaandam is a beautiful ship. Since we had been on Oceania's Regatta we can compare the two since they serve similar markets. The big difference to me almost immediately was the level of service. On the Regatta the service was remarkably well done. Impeccable and immediate. On the Zaandam there have been noticeable and annoying lapses. It seems that they are somewhat shorthanded, particularly in the dining area, so things do not get done. Being run-of-the-mill people Seven and I do not have high expectations when it comes to service but being on a ship like the Regatta spoils you. For example, we finished our meal on the Lido Deck while waiting for our cabins and our dishes were never picked up. In the main dining room, the Rotterdam Dining Room, our waiter had 3-4 lapses. He was working hard and seem to be stretched thin. During another visit to the main dining room, we had to ask for coffee and water. On a ship like this the service should exceed what is found at a Denny's. The food was fine. One of our dinner mates had several complaints about his. The desert was served in a dish too small for the serving and was difficult to eat without spilling the contents. Small items I know, but we are paying for and expecting service that we are not getting.
The activities are varied and interesting, but one thing that we have noticed that a lot of the classes and lectures are just opportunties for HA to sell us something. We participate in just about every activity or contest from trivia to putting. There are more things to do than we have time for. We attend just about every presentation or lecture offered. They are very good. Since we are going to Hawaii there have been daily lectures about, so far, the geology, geography, history and the people of Hawaii. The lecturer is one of those people who is a natural story teller that weaves personal information about his Hawaiian family into the topic he is presenting. I have learned a lot. Things we have done include duplicate bridge, afternoon and morning trivia contests, putting contest, poker lessons (like we need them), 5 different lectures, food preparation demonstrations, workouts, swimming, hot tub, and read. We plan to do ball room dancing lessons, line dancing lessons, ping pong competition, 5K walk for breast cancer awareness, more food demonstrations, etc.
It is easy to find small things we can complain about but over all the ship is beautiful and clean and the crew friendly and helpful.
The gym is very well equipped and I have used it twice. Both times there were several treadmills out of order. I like to walk the treadmill and do free weights and got in two very good work outs so far. The food input levels on cruises encourages hard workouts. We also try to walk the stairs and since we are on the second deck we do a lot of stair climbing.
One of the few hitches in the boarding procedure is that our rooms were not going to be ready until 1:30pm and our luggage would not be taken to the cabin until later. So, to kill some time, we had lunch with a nice couple from Las Vegas who were on about their 10th cruise with Holland America. It seems that once people who like to cruise find a cruise line they like they use it almost exclusively. We had a lot to talk about and the hour or so we had to wait for our cabin passed very quickly. One of the best part of cruising is the people you meet.
The Zaandam is a beautiful ship. Since we had been on Oceania's Regatta we can compare the two since they serve similar markets. The big difference to me almost immediately was the level of service. On the Regatta the service was remarkably well done. Impeccable and immediate. On the Zaandam there have been noticeable and annoying lapses. It seems that they are somewhat shorthanded, particularly in the dining area, so things do not get done. Being run-of-the-mill people Seven and I do not have high expectations when it comes to service but being on a ship like the Regatta spoils you. For example, we finished our meal on the Lido Deck while waiting for our cabins and our dishes were never picked up. In the main dining room, the Rotterdam Dining Room, our waiter had 3-4 lapses. He was working hard and seem to be stretched thin. During another visit to the main dining room, we had to ask for coffee and water. On a ship like this the service should exceed what is found at a Denny's. The food was fine. One of our dinner mates had several complaints about his. The desert was served in a dish too small for the serving and was difficult to eat without spilling the contents. Small items I know, but we are paying for and expecting service that we are not getting.
The activities are varied and interesting, but one thing that we have noticed that a lot of the classes and lectures are just opportunties for HA to sell us something. We participate in just about every activity or contest from trivia to putting. There are more things to do than we have time for. We attend just about every presentation or lecture offered. They are very good. Since we are going to Hawaii there have been daily lectures about, so far, the geology, geography, history and the people of Hawaii. The lecturer is one of those people who is a natural story teller that weaves personal information about his Hawaiian family into the topic he is presenting. I have learned a lot. Things we have done include duplicate bridge, afternoon and morning trivia contests, putting contest, poker lessons (like we need them), 5 different lectures, food preparation demonstrations, workouts, swimming, hot tub, and read. We plan to do ball room dancing lessons, line dancing lessons, ping pong competition, 5K walk for breast cancer awareness, more food demonstrations, etc.
It is easy to find small things we can complain about but over all the ship is beautiful and clean and the crew friendly and helpful.
The gym is very well equipped and I have used it twice. Both times there were several treadmills out of order. I like to walk the treadmill and do free weights and got in two very good work outs so far. The food input levels on cruises encourages hard workouts. We also try to walk the stairs and since we are on the second deck we do a lot of stair climbing.
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