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Holland America Line

MS Zaandam

Your Rating:
Reviewed by:Bill and Peg MacDougall
# previous cruises: 3
Date of Trip: September 30, 2000
Itinerary: Caribbean Western

This was our first cruise on Holland America. We were most impressed with the very helpful crew. The fact that we were upgraded from Deck 2 to a mini-suite on Deck 6 really made the trip very pleasurable.

The public areas are very roomy, a trait of HAL. We enjoyed our walks on the promenade. Pool and casino were great.

The food and service were better than our previous cruises on two other lines. Perhaps it is due to the training school operated by HAL. The nicest eating experience was having dinner in the Marco Polo Room. This a small Italian restaurant, which requires a reservation (but there is no extra charge). Go on a "dress-up" night and make your reservation as soon as you can. We hadn't unpacked when we reserved for the first formal night.

As stated above we were upgraded to a mini-suite. Very nice cabin with a VCR, whirlpool tub, mini-bar with fridge. Our next cruise on the Rotterdam VI will be in an outside cabin on Deck 2. We would not recommend the outside cabins on Deck 3 (promenade Deck). We were told they could be noisy from people walking by and some views are obstructed.

Entertainment was top notch. Ship's cast of singers and dancers were finishing six months working together. All in all, every night's show was as good as the other nights.

Regular shipboard activities. My wife found "Mr. Zaandam", which is ice breaker game. We reversed route due to impending storms. Went to Half Moon Cay (very nice), Ocho Rios (thumbs down), Grand Cayman (thumbs up), and Cozumel (one thumb up).

Mostly oder passengers, but some younger ones with children. Split decision on whom we would invite to dinner.