ms Zaandam
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ms Zaandam
112
Cruises availables
The MS Zaandam is a Holland America Line ship positioned as a classic and premium cruise vessel, offering a blend of elegant atmosphere and high onboard comfort on a relatively intimate ship. Its itineraries include destinations such as Alaska, the Caribbean, South America, and Europe, along with world cruise options and a strong cultural focus. Dining, live music, and shows are key features of the onboard experience, complemented by wellness areas such as a spa and pool. The MS Zaandam is well suited for travelers seeking a smaller, traditional-style cruise experience with varied global itineraries, cultural enrichment, and a relaxed onboard ambiance.
Itineraries of the ms Zaandam
Price and Availability Notice
Prices displayed are provided for informational purposes only. They reflect the rates in effect at the time of their most recent update and are shown in Canadian dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, unless otherwise specified.
Supplier rates, exchange rates, taxes and fees, room or cabin categories, and promotions are subject to change at any time. The applicable price is the one confirmed by a travel advisor at the time of booking, subject to availability. Only the confirmed price shall be considered valid.
It is the traveler's responsibility to confirm the price, inclusions, and applicable terms and conditions before making a reservation. While every effort is made to keep our content up to date, transmission, display, or pricing errors may occur. In such cases, the correct price will be communicated to the traveler before any booking is confirmed. Certain terms, restrictions, and exclusions may apply.
decks plans
Deck - 10
Sky
Deck - 9
Sports
Deck - 8
Lido
Deck - 7
Navigation
Deck - 6
Verandah
Deck - 5
Upper Promenade
Deck - 4
Promenade
Deck - 3
Lower Promenade
Deck - 2
Main
Deck - 1
Dolphin
Ship's attributes
Services And Amenities
- Elevators
- Self-service laundry room
- Casino
- Jacuzzi
- Pool
- Beauty salon
- Spa & body care
Specific needs
- Wheelchair accessible staterooms
Technical specifications
- Classe: Rotterdam Class
- Tonnage: 61396
- Speed: 23.0 knots
- Passengers: 1432
- Decks: 10
- Length: 238 m
- Width: 32 m
History
- 6 mai 2000: Voyage inaugural
Frequently Asked Questions
The ship registry gives 237.70 m long by 32.25 m wide, 61,396 gross tons and 10 guest decks. The 202 m figure published by CruiseMapper and copied widely is wrong. The proof takes one line: Volendam, built to the same plan at the same yard, is listed at 237.91 m in that same database, and identical sisters cannot differ by thirty-six metres. Use 237.7 m.
Both figures are correct and measure different things. Holland America publishes 1,432, the double-occupancy count, meaning two people in each of the ship's 716 staterooms. Maximum capacity, around 1,800, counts upper berths and sofa beds taken by a third and fourth guest. In practice a long South America voyage sails close to double occupancy, while a week in Alaska in July runs toward the top of the range.
Décor first: Zaandam is the fleet's music ship, with a working Dutch baroque pipe organ, guitars signed by the Rolling Stones, Carlos Santana and Queen, and a saxophone signed by Bill Clinton in a passageway. Volendam is the floral ship. Volendam gained twenty-one lanai staterooms in 2014; Zaandam has none. And they almost never meet: Zaandam holds the Pacific and Alaska, Volendam the St. Lawrence and the Atlantic.
From May to September 2026, Alaska, on eight-day round trips out of Vancouver, with a scenic day inside Glacier Bay National Park and a run into Endicott Arm. Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan are the regular calls. In the fall she drops down to San Diego for a short Mexican Riviera season, then crosses to Florida in December.
Her winter grand voyage sails from Fort Lauderdale on 3 January 2027: 70 days, 13 countries, 31 ports, with a Panama Canal transit, the Chilean coast, the Antarctic Experience and a call in the Falklands. The next summer brings her back to Alaska from Vancouver. The embarkation port changes completely between seasons: Montreal to Fort Lauderdale in January, Montreal to Vancouver in July, two direct flights but two very different tickets. Book the itinerary before the flight, and arrive a day early.
For Alaska, a Vista Suite with verandah on deck 6 or 7 earns its keep, because you spend hours outside in front of the glaciers. For Antarctica, a midship ocean-view on decks 1 to 3 is enough, since nobody stays in the stateroom crossing the Drake. On deck 7, a Neptune Suite opens the private lounge and the concierge service that comes with it, comfort that counts across seventy days at sea. Avoid the obstructed categories where a lifeboat fills the window, and note there is only one Pinnacle Suite, on deck 10.
To eat: the Pinnacle Grill for steak, Canaletto for Italian, the Lido Market buffet, burgers at the Dive-In beside the pool, Explorations Café for coffee and reading, and Sel de Mer as an occasional pop-up. To drink: the Ocean Bar, the Explorer's Lounge, the Mix bar, the Crow's Nest on deck 9 looking over the bow, the aft Sea View Bar and the Lido Bar. The Mainstage handles shows, the Wajang Theater films and culinary demonstrations. Add the Greenhouse Spa, a midship pool under a retractable glass roof, and a basketball and paddle-tennis court on deck 9.
Standard staterooms are tight, with no fridge as standard, one genuinely usable power outlet and a thin television lineup. The fitness room, moved above the bridge when the spa was enlarged in 2006, fills up by eight in the morning, and the steam rooms once offered free now carry a charge. Only a little over a quarter of the staterooms have a balcony, which tells in Alaska. And the wading pool set between the main pool and the Lido Bar makes that corner loud in the afternoon.
The base fare covers the stateroom, meals in the Lido Market, the Dive-In and the main dining room, Mainstage shows, the fitness centre and the youth program. Have It All adds four things: a shore excursion credit, the Signature beverage package, a number of specialty dining nights that rises with voyage length, and Surf Wi-Fi. On the 70-day Antarctic voyage the included dining nights stay capped, which leaves many weeks in the main dining room. Grand Voyages are handled separately in the package terms.
It is not. Holland America adds a daily per-guest amount to the onboard account, higher for Neptune Suite and Pinnacle Suite occupants than for an interior stateroom. That charge sits outside Have It All, which does not cover it. On top of it, a service charge applies to every drink served at the Ocean Bar or the Crow's Nest. Everything settles at the deck 4 front desk at the end of the cruise, and a guest can have the amount adjusted on board.
The Signature Beverage Package, included in Have It All, covers wines by the glass, beer, spirits, cocktails, soft drinks and specialty coffees up to a capped per-drink price, service charge included, with a limit of fifteen alcoholic drinks per person per day. It works everywhere aboard, from the Mix bar to the Sea View Bar. Bottles from the Pinnacle Grill list often sit above the cap and are charged as an extra. The Elite package exists for guests who drink above that price ceiling.
The Surf plan, included in Have It All, handles email, browsing, messaging and social media. The Premium plan, sold separately, targets video calls and streaming. The signal holds up in Alaska along the Inside Passage, weakens in narrow arms such as Endicott, and turns unreliable in Antarctic waters. A guest who must work should settle into Explorations Café on deck 5, where throughput is steadiest.
Yes, with realistic expectations. The youth program splits into three groups, ages 3 to 6, 7 to 11 and 12 to 17, and occupies deck 9. Nothing is provided for children under three. The ship has no waterslide and no water park, though the pool under its retractable roof rescues rainy Alaska afternoons. Numbers climb in July and August on the Vancouver departures and fall to almost nothing on the winter grand voyages.
It counts one credit per day sailed, doubled for suite occupants, plus credits tied to onboard spending. Tiers open at 30, 75, 200 and 500 cruise-day credits. A single grand voyage on Zaandam changes your standing: 70 days to Antarctica in an ordinary stateroom pushes almost anyone past 75 credits, and the same voyage in a Neptune Suite is worth 140. The genuinely useful benefits arrive at the fourth tier, with priority check-in and laundry.
She measures 61,396 gross tons and carries stabilisers, which puts her in the lower-middle of the fleet for steadiness. Alaska's Inside Passage runs sheltered behind islands and stays calm most of the summer. The Gulf of Alaska, the Hawaii crossing and above all the Drake Passage to Antarctica are another matter. A midship ocean-view stateroom on decks 1 to 3 is the best position, and motion medication works taken before sailing rather than after.
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