Zaandam Review

4.0 / 5.0
558 reviews

Wonderful cruise

Review for Alaska Cruise on Zaandam
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tempedesert
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

Rating by category

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Value for Money
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Additional details

Sail Date: Jul 2018
Cabin: Large Ocean-View Stateroom

Wanted a 2 week cruise to get out of the heat and this one had stops at places we haven't been to before. Like the smaller ship and getting an elevator was easy with no waiting. The crew and food were very good. The library was excellent, stocked with books and games.

We had an outside cabin with a newly renovated bathroom which was great. We are not fond of HAL's room setup and prefer Princess design better. HAL hallway into the room was cramped with the closet setup. Did not like having to stand up to turn the change on the tv.

The bed was under the window and in Alaska you still get a lot of daylight coming in under the drapes.HAL is doing room steward care differently. There are no carts in the hallway and somehow your room would get taken care of. Saw very little of our room steward and miss talking to them during the day. You had to call guest services if you needed something and they would contact your steward.

Cabin Review

Large Ocean-View Stateroom

Cabin C

We had an outside cabin with a newly renovated bathroom which was great. We are not fond of HAL's room setup and prefer Princess design better. HAL hallway into the room was cramped with the closet setup. Did not like having to stand up to turn the change on the tv.

The bed was under the window and in Alaska you still get a lot of daylight coming in under the drapes.

Port Reviews

Juneau

We rented a car from Alaska Coach tours (toursinalaska.com) and it was awesome. Highly recommend. There was even a coupon on their website to use. We drove from end to end and made stops along the way at the Jensen-Olson Arboretum which was beautiful, the Shrine of St. Therese, then stopped at Twisted Fish for a late lunch. Of course we stopped at the Red Dog Saloon for a drink. This was our 4th trip to Juneau and our best.

Icy Strait

Beautiful scenery and if you are a shopper then this is the place for you. It had different items than you usually saw and they were lovely. I'm not a shopper but found myself with an arm full of packages to take home for kids and grandkids.

Homer

Excursions were very expensive so we just took the hop on and hop off again bus into town. ($15.00 each) Not a great deal to see but the stopped at a few shops and to eat.

Went back to the Homer Spit and had a drink at the Salt Dog and then just walked up and down the spit stopping for lunch at Captain Paddie's which was recommended to us. The scenery was beautiful.

Kodiak

It gets a average rating because it was a blustery day, wind & rain that turned the umbrellas inside out. Took the shuttle into town and stopped at 2 close museums which were very nice.

Sitka

Love Sitka ! This was our third time here and we rented a car from alaska coach tours. They met us at the dock with the car. We stopped first at Fortress of the Bear which is an awesome place and the work they are doing is excellent. We then stopped at the Raptor Center which again was very good, the signage to find it could be better though. Both stops were in beautiful settings and very informative. We then stopped at the National Historic Park with totem poles and hiking trails.

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