Seeking the Eclipse on Zaandam!

[Mary229]

34 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

The crew, as always, were wonderful,  happy, friendly, and of course, hard working. Every single one. The only member we even had any doubt about was one we interacted every day, knew us...and everyone we saw around us, by name. We know that he is coming to the end of his 4th contract, and about done with the cruise ship life. He has used his money to purchase some farm land, and is ready to settle with his wife and children on it. He seemed a bit tired and down a couple days, but the next day, greeted us by name, with a smile.

 

Susette was the primary Neptune concierge. Professional, exuberant, greeted us with a big hug as we had sailed with her last September. Handled the few small problems we had easily and quickly. Funny and a great smile. Top notch...she already knows she is going to Volendam next.

 

Madi and Midi were our room stewards. Reached out to us immediately, perfectly adapted to our routine,  perhaps better than any other crew we gave had. The "ordering" form for specific services was followed to a "t", first time, every time.

 

We like to have a table for 2 at dinner, but we quit seeking window seats a long time ago. Instead, we like to people watch, so we request a table in the center raised platform of the lower dining room floor, all the ships have them. We usually have a selection of table numbers that meet our desires. Niman, the assistant maitre d, arranged the exact table we wanted at noon during boarding,  then personally arranged the guide to the table when we arrived at the MDR. The platform area is not in high demand,  nor was any time dining on this cruise, so our wait staff rarely had more than 2 tables...3 people. It was like Rachmat and Hery were our personal waiters. They were very attentive, very focused on us. They were funny...we had a routine going about how stressful our day was...not.

 

Lastly,  Richard and Ryan at the Ocean Bar. Yes, it's easy to be happy when they are plying you with drinks. But these guys were very busy, and the definition of a team, and a well oiled machine. Not only that, but they constantly kept all the customers and wait staff laughing  every night. Lastly, they had a new employee who they were training. Having been a firefighter,  team building in a stressful situation is one of the most valuable skills I can imagine. But these two did it so well...and the "new guy" just ate it up.

 

Just a few examples...HAL has not lost a single step in the employee selection and development process.

I think HAL is on the upswing.  There are still misses but every cruise there are little improvements, small refinements, a return to distinction. 

[CruiserBruce]

The topic of cutbacks....

 

In terms of personnel, I would say we saw no sign of cutbacks on Zaandam. We have discussed the impact of the drink packages on workload for the bar staff, and speed of service. Obviously, the bar staff workload has increased...that is obvious. Is that effectively a cutback if HAL doesn't increase staff?. I can see that argument,  but on the other hand the number of beds on board for staff is rigidly capped. It's not like they could add 20 or 30 new staff beds at the next drydock. Or start hanging hammocks over the torpedo storage racks like in WW 2.

 

It's my understanding that they have been some modifications in the seafarers contracts guaranteeing more rest. It also seems like meal services for staff are limited to certain hours...those are the only times staff can get breakfast, lunch or dinner. So all staff need to rotate through breaks at certain times. In the past breaks seemed to be during transitions from one event time frame to another. For example,, as the afternoon progresses,, and bar staff need to transition from Lido pool bar servce to Happy Hour and dinner drink demand, , breaks were put there.... we definitely saw that.

 

Cutbacks in food. Well, not on prime rib, that is for sure. On some courses, yes. Vegetables on dishes seemed to be less at times. But the filet mignon serving sizes in both Pinnacle and MDR haven't changed. Some of the desert serving sizes are smaller. So, I guess in summary, I would say there have been some cutbacks,  but not huge. Small cutbacks. 

 

In overall food products, I would say the only cutback I noticed and dislike is the reduction in variety at Lido lunch. It seemed only one or two items changed in the main line on a daily basis. Salad bar is still great. Sushi/Asian food, still great. The pasta station is noticeably better this cruise than last September. Maybe a little cutting in deserts...a few less choices. I think dinner in the Lido has much improved variety. Lido for dinner was very popular on this cruise.

 

As mentioned in previous posts, French fries at the Dive In have almost been cut in half. Serious problem!

 

Overall HAL product cutbacks....yes, of course there have been cuts. No Mariners lunch. ( But appears to be coming back.) No suite luncheon on the longer cruises. A few other amenities. I think, from our experience,  are the most disappointing. There were 3 classical musicians on this cruise. They performed most nights.

[Andi Land]

Sounds like a wonderful cruise overall! Thank you for sharing. 

[oakridger]

@CruiserBruce did your flight take off yet???  It's now 7:50pm!!

 

 

~Nancy

[CruiserBruce]

11 hours ago, oakridger said:

@CruiserBruce did your flight take off yet???  It's now 7:50pm!!

 

 

~Nancy

Thanks for asking...we finally got on a plane at 7:30, but due to the construction and weather issues at SFO, it didn't actually depart until 8:40, getting us to SFO at 10:20pm, and in bed just before 1am.

[BetsyS.]

Thanks for the update! What a long day you had! 

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, BetsyS. said:

Thanks for the update! What a long day you had! 

Yep...a full 12 hours later than expected.

[CruiserBruce]

OK, to wrap up this review...

 

The condition of the ship. Well, its a 25 year old ship, so it is not in pristine shape. There is some rust here and there...I was a little shocked to see a fair amount of rust on the exterior of the Bridge wing, clearly visible from our cabin balcony. But over all, the ship is in very good shape. Didn't see any issues with furnishings. The Lido pool deck is in good shape. The various venues all seemed fine. Other than some sun aging on the carpet in our cabin, the cabin looked fine. We always do a thorough cabin search as we pack to avoid forgetting anything. I always seem to find more cabinets and storage space than I can possibly use.

 

I had mentioned that the starboard side blue hull area needed paint fairly seriously. Bam...just give the crew 6 hours in port, and the entire starboard side, bow to, and including, the stern was painted. They didn't chip rust, so it might be a bit temporary, but it looked great. I believe it has a drydock this coming fall.

 

The Wifi on board is Starlink, and a significant improvement. Except in many cabins. Ours was actually worse than the old system in our cabin. We heard others complaining about the in cabin coverage, and our Neptune Lounge concierge was very aware of the problem. It is supposed to be addressed in drydock. We used the Wifi in the main show room (waiting for shows and events, not inappropriately), the two pool areas, Ocean bar, all over the ship...just fine, no issues. But in our cabin....

 

We have sailed the Mexican Rivera many times, so excursions aren't generally a priority...we walk, taxi or bus to places for lunch, a beer, shopping, or just being a tourist. But we had HIA excursion money. So we booked a Hop on, Hop off bus in Mazatlan just for the heck of it. Mazatlan got canceled, so that money was "wasted". We booked a "Luxury Boat Sail and Snorkel" for Cabo. As I mentioned, overall, this was a fun excursion. Beautiful, clear weather, if a little chilly, great crew, excellent food, drinks and service on board. The minuses...no shade, no seats with backs, and the water temp was pretty cold for water sports. Cabo in the spring doesn't have friendly water temps.

 

We ended up with pillow chocolates all but 2 of our 14 nights on board. Towel animals were only on dressy nights.

 

Overall, this was a great cruise...I would give it a 9.75 on a 10 scale.

[Mosaic]

Thanks for the write ups!  An add on about Starlink.  So we were on the Zaandam last year for the Panama Canal.  Internet was horrible.  So I prepared for our recent 28 day Amazon on the Z.  Brought a AX router, external WIFI antenna, Network Analyzer program and ran tests.  We were immediately across from the Neptune Lounge. We were able to get some "ok" speeds and connections. BUT, with the door open the connectivity and speed were 5x.  The door is a real signal blocker.   With the router and with the door closed we could stream from the balcony, basically at all times. Not that we needed to do that 😉  No, we did not have the volume on at all...just testing.  In the room, never a problem.

[CruiserBruce]

I lied...I am back. 😄

 

Two things I forgot to mention. First, Tom Vassos was an absolute rocker on board. Such a plus...fantastic presentations, very accessible all over the ship, before and after his presentations and just about 24/7. Just a great human being, and a great asset to this cruise.

 

Secondly, the group on board. There was Sky and Telescope, about 375 people, and two other small groups. Yes, they had various presentations and other events, and had their own operations on the top deck forward for the Eclipse. I never once felt they in anyway affected any other activities or things on the ship. Perhaps because every single person on then ship was there for the same purpose...I don't know. But other than their special ID badges, and the almost daily events scheduled at various venues and times, you wouldn't have known anything was happening. No impact at all on our enjoyment.