Just the break we needed!

Loved our cruise on the Zaandam. Loved our cabin although we didn’t spend much time in it. This ship is one of the smaller ones and we enjoy the size and not needing a map to get around. It has recently been in dry dock and had some work done in public areas like the library. However, our room could have used some work as it was looking a little worn. The itinerary was great, 6 ports to explore! And I felt safe in all of them. With six ports in six days, we enjoyed the sea days on the way back to San Diego to catch up on our rest. You can feel some of the cutbacks that have been made. Food was tasty, but lacked variety and some of the better cuts of meat. There was less staff in the pool area and our cabin stewards were great but overworked! Night time entertainment in the theater was good but overloaded with comedians. They were entertaining with one exception. He was so bad that people were getting up and leaving. Surprised the theater was not empty by the end of his unfunny performance! Especially enjoyed the production shows. We also enjoyed the sing alongs with Diane at the Piano Bar. She is very talented and can play anything you request! Worst thing about this cruise was that we had to come home! Warning: they keep the ship cold, so bring a sweater!

27-day Amazon cruise on Zaandam

Knowing what we know now, would we book the 27-DAY AMAZON EXPLORER cruise again? Absolutely. It provided a good mix of ports and sea days. But before committing to the expense, it would have been nice to find online or to receive more information about the Amazon segment so we could manage our expectations. We couldn't get much detail from Holland's reps, nor could we find recent informative reviews. A simple thing we couldn't get an answer to from Holland: Would there be experts aboard to teach us about the Amazon and Brazil? The answers were vague. The answer turned out to be yes. We were well-satisfied with the informative talks, except for wishing afterward there had been a nature-type program devoted to plants and animals we probably would not see up close, and did not. Forget impressions of rainforests and jungles shaped by movies and documentaries. You will be traveling THROUGH a vast rainforest, but most of the time will see land from a considerable distance. The water was brown. The trees on the shore will look small. (See photo.) However, you won't be IN the rainforest—out there with the howler monkeys and colorful, exotic birds—unless you sign up for one of a few excursions, some of them labeled "Strenuous." ("Strenuous?" Bear in mind that the activity will occur within a few degrees of the equator and that most stairs and paths meet no standards you're used to.) On a small-boat excursion out of Manaus, we saw a monkey and a couple interesting birds high up in trees, too far away to identify. We also saw huge lily pads that were supposed to be the highlight of an earlier tour but could not be accessed. Santarem, with its high-rise buildings, and Manaus, with its extensive commercial-industrial waterfront, did not seem to us the types of towns we would just go into and wander around, so we were glad to have scheduled excursions. Two towns where the ship stops, Santarem and Alter do Chao, are close enough that Holland offered two bus excursions combining both. We took the one that started in Santarem with a fast tour of a fish and fruit market, where it was impossible to hear the guide unless you were standing next to him. The aging, un-air-conditioned bus then took us through a depressing area of Santarem along a two-lane road with speed bumps to a greener area lined with concrete-walled, tightly-secured homes and businesses. Alter do Chao would be a good place to take a short canoe ride out to a spit of land with a lovely beach, for those with an interest in swimming. The highlight for me was a stop along the road with a short, looped path into the forest. (The sign said "Syringe Trail," but a traveler who speaks Portuguese told me Syringe is an unfortunate misspelling of I-forget-what-word.) We saw the V-shape pattern on rubber trees where they had been tapped, a giant termite nest high in a tree, and a multi-step demonstration of how the toxic tubers of the cassava plant get turned into a nutritious staple of the local diet. Our favorite excursion in the Amazon was the triciclo tour of Parantins, whose downtown was the cleanest port we visited in Brazil (with the least razorwire) and second-cleanest port of the entire trip. (The cleanest place we got off the ship was Road Town, which has a waterfront park-meets-shopping and dining mall where cruise ships dock.) The ship's most interesting stop was off-shore of Devil's Island, site of a French penal colony from 1852 to 1952. There had been a so-so on-board talk about the island. We were among the many who tendered over to tour the island. The island offers great views of crashing waves, towering trees, lots of uneven stairs and rocky paths, birdsongs, scant signage, no way-finding, and no services, except for the vehicle that materialized to transport a passenger who had fallen and hit her head. Bravo to HAL for having set up a first-aid station. Observations about the ship. Condition: Before we boarded, Zaandam had undergone an intensive, two-week, 30-million-dollar refurbishment in drydock. The ship looked great. Any day of the cruise, I would see staff members cleaning high, low, all over. Passengers: We met LOTS of people who have done eight, ten, or more cruises. It was fun to learn from them. I would have loved to know if the median age of guests was below or above 70 years old. Numerous passengers using walking sticks or other assistive devices got extra assistance from crew members when needed. Numerous passengers took a minimalist approach to "Dressy" nights in the dining room, especially early diners like us, and no one appeared to be judgmental. Seats in the World Stage filled up early for the 7 p.m. show; the 9 p.m. show often had a sparse crowd. Yellow fever shots: $400 apiece, and no one asked to see the certification. Great sunsets? Surprisingly, very few. In the Amazon, where it was the rainy season in February, the sun usually sank into a bank of rain clouds. Laundry package: This add-on allowed us to pack fewer items. Price of the package is perhaps calculated by multiplying a per-day cost figure. We didn't know at time of purchase that we'd be asked to conserve water during the days on the Amazon because the ship can't make water then. Take this into account when calculating the value to you of the package.

Amazon Cruise, Holland America, Zaandam

The excursions were all excellent, going to the Amazon was phenomenal, I did 3 jungle cruises. The food was excellent, no complaints there. Staff and crew were great. Entertainment was so so. I love dancing and The Band did not play consistent dancing music. Some nights you might sit for an entire set without dancing. One night it was so bad there was only one person sitting in the dancing portion of the Oceans bar at 9 05. I had many comments to staff about it as well as other passengers. To no avail. The Brazilian dancers were good. Comedian so so. Singers in the World Stage were ok. Fellow cruise passengers, excellent. Being on the ship so long you developed many friendships. I would highly recommend this cruise if one wants to see the Amazon. I wish one aspect about Holland is I wished that they would require posting final prices for services. You may be thinking your massage is a certain price or a acupuncture a certain price, then they add in tips and any additional things and before you know you have paid 40 60 dollars more than anticipated.

Excellent

From cabin steward, to dining room service, to the art program; this trip was first rate. I ate in main dining every single night and never once had a bad meal. Mostly older clientele, but that was fine with me, as I was going for the destinations and did not care to party. Lectures about the area of the world we went to see were interesting and I learned a lot, in addition to just the leisure of cruising. The usual shows for entertainment are not necessarily my taste, but I have to say that 'The Showmen" were truly a first class act. Their choices of songs were perfectly matched to their voice ranges and they kept it very entertaining. Oi Brazil was giving us a taste of carnival, very beautiful with their costumes and music. Only once was there quite a back-up on getting tenders to take us ashore, all other times it went fluidly.