ms Zaandam

The 2000-built MS Zaandam cruise ship is the third Rotterdam/R-class Holland America liner, with sisterships ms Volendam (fleetmate), ms Rotterdam (now Fred Olsen Borealis), and ms Amsterdam (now Fred Olsen Bolette).

The vessel (IMO 9156527) is Netherlands-flagged (MMSI 246442000) and registered in Rotterdam.

History – construction and ownership

Holland America Line (HAL) is a Seattle-based cruise company owned by Carnival Corporation. From 1873 to 1989, HAL operated as a Dutch cargo and passenger shipping company running regular transatlantic crossings between Holland and the Americas. Founded in 1873 as the “Dutch-American Steamship Company” and headquartered in Rotterdam, the company was acquired by Carnival Corporation in 1989 for around EUR 530 million. HAL’s assets include the Westmark hotel chain (Alaska-Yukon), Worldwide Shore Services (warehousing and logistics), and Half Moon Cay (the line’s Caribbean private island).

The 1500-passenger Zaandam (named after Zaandam, Holland) features an atrium dominated by a signature sculpture. The Lower Promenade Deck is fully wraparound. Most public areas are positioned across three decks. The ship has three banks of elevators (compared to two on Statendam-class vessels). Zaandam’s deck plan closely resembles those of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, although Zaandam and her sistership Volendam have less engine power and do not feature the twin funnels of HAL’s co-flagships. Zaandam was originally designed to appeal to younger travelers. Her godmothers are Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, known from the late-1980s/early-1990s television series “Full House” and numerous films. The vessel showcases an extensive rock ’n’ roll memorabilia collection — including a guitar signed by the Rolling Stones.

Decks and Cabins

MS Zaandam staterooms (716 total, in 26 grades) include 197 Suites, 383 Oceanviews, 136 Inside cabins, and no Standard Balconies. Most staterooms measure 175–255 ft² (16–24 m²). Approximately 30% of all accommodations feature step-out balconies. Wheelchair-accessible cabins total 22. The largest accommodations are the Pinnacle Suites (940 ft² / 87 m²) with a 190 ft² / 18 m² terrace.

The ship has 10 passenger decks, of which 5 contain cabins.

Implemented fleetwide in 2019, the “Club Orange” program provides exclusive amenities to Suite passengers booked in Neptune and Pinnacle categories. Bonus perks include:

• priority services (check-in, disembarkation, tendering, dining reservations)
• 24-hour concierge service
• exclusive dining venue (complimentary Pinnacle Grill breakfast, Dining Room dinner, exclusive menu items)
• dedicated Concierge Desk (Guest Services and Shore Excursions)
• enhanced room service (à la carte breakfast with complimentary gourmet options, including smoked salmon and steak and eggs)
• sparkling wine on embarkation day, Club Orange tote bag, premium bathrobes (for cabin use; monogramming and purchasing available)
• Club Orange Restaurant, a dedicated VIP section within the Main Dining Room.

Shipboard dining options – Food and Drinks

The two-story Rotterdam Restaurant (the Main Dining Room), located aft and surrounded by large windows, offers open-seating breakfast and lunch, with numerous smaller tables for couples. Zaandam also features a 22-dish vegetarian menu for lunch and dinner, offering salads, soups, appetizers and entrees such as Vietnamese vegetable spring rolls, portobello mushroom and chipotle quesadillas, and spicy lentil and garbanzo salad.

Pinnacle Grill is the ship’s specialty restaurant. Open for lunch (USD 15 surcharge) and dinner (USD 30), it offers a Northwest-inspired menu featuring Pacific Rim starters, grilled aged beef, salmon, chicken and desserts.

Below is the complete list of ms Zaandam restaurants and food bars:

• Pinnacle Grill (88-seat reservations-only seafood/steakhouse venue with fine wines; complimentary for children under 12). The restaurant also hosts “An Evening at Le Cirque” once per cruise via a partnership with NYC’s Le Cirque.
• Rotterdam Restaurant (792-seat aft Dining Room; open-seating breakfast and lunch, and dinner with two fixed seatings or “Any Time” dining from 5:15–9:00 pm).
• King’s Room (private dining room; reservations required).
• Terrace Grill (poolside fast food bar; complimentary).
• Lido Restaurant (394-seat complimentary buffet restaurant offering self-service breakfast 6–11 am, lunch 11:30–2 pm, Afternoon Tea, and dinner 5:30–8 pm).
• Canaletto Restaurant (Lido annex; Italian restaurant for dinner, reservations required).

Shipboard entertainment options – Fun and Sport

A highlight of HAL’s Signature of Excellence program is the addition of a demonstration kitchen in Wajang Theater, operated in partnership with Food & Wine magazine. Guest chefs from notable US restaurants frequently host workshops and demonstrations. When no guest chef is present, Zaandam’s own culinary team leads the classes. Many demonstrations are complimentary, while hands-on, limited-capacity classes require reservations and an additional charge. Wajang Theatre also screens films three times daily.

The Mondriaan Lounge is the venue for production shows, enrichment lectures and specialty performances. Additional amenities include 24-hour complimentary room service, supervised kids’ programming (Club HAL), wedding packages, Internet/WiFi access, and self-serve launderettes.

The following is the complete list of ms Zaandam lounges, clubs and entertainment venues for kids, teens and adults:

• Atrium (three-deck-high open-floor central area with live performances)
• Promenade Deck and Walking Track (jogging not permitted)
• Mondriaan Lounge (574-seat main show lounge and BBC Earth enrichment venue)
• Queen’s Room (34-seat meeting room; digital workshops via Microsoft partnership — computer classes, social media, blogging, photo editing)
• Photo Gallery & Shop; Art Gallery
• Wine Tasting Bar and Gourmet Shops (wine sampling and bottle purchases)
• Wajang Theatre & Culinary Arts Center (125-seat cinema and cooking demonstration venue)
• Atrium Terrace and boutiques; Atrium Shops (duty-free tobacco, liquor, perfumes, watches, clothing, HAL logo gear, souvenirs); Marabella Luxury Shop
• Ocean Bar (75-seat Atrium bar and lounge with dance floor and live music stage)
• Casino (served by Casino Bar)
• Piano Bar (84-seat)
• Hudson Room (50-seat meeting and card room)
• Explorations Café (82-seat specialty coffee bar and patisserie; also the Library and Online Center)
• Explorer’s Lounge & Bar (87-seat lounge with classical music performances)
• Neptune Lounge (22-seat private lounge for Deluxe Suite and Pinnacle Suite guests)
• Fitness Center (gym with separate aerobics room); 2 Jacuzzis
• Greenhouse Spa & Salon; Lido Pool (served by Lido Bar and Terrace Grill); Sea View Pool (served by Sea View Bar)
• Crow’s Nest (220-seat observation lounge with bar and dance floor; transforms into a disco at night)
• Tennis Court; Basketball Court; Shuffleboard
• Club HAL (kids lounge and complimentary youth programs)
• The Loft (teen lounge with video arcade, computers, PlayStations, and teen disco)
• The Oasis (40-seat outdoor teen-only relaxation area).

Since 2023, all HAL ships feature pickleball courts (on the top deck) through an exclusive partnership with the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA). HAL also offers complimentary beginner lessons led by onboard instructors, sells branded pickleball starter kits in retail shops, and includes Play Pickleball tutorial videos in stateroom TV programming.

Itineraries

MS Zaandam’s itinerary program is centered on Alaska voyages from homeports Vancouver, BC and Anchorage, AK / Seward, AK during the summer. The ship also operates South America itineraries from Argentina and Chile, as well as Panama Canal repositioning cruises.

In mid-August 2020, HAL opened bookings for two Zaandam world cruises — the “Grand Africa Voyage 2021” (71-day circumnavigation of Africa) and the “Grand World Voyage 2022” (128-day).

• Grand World Voyage 2022 departs Fort Lauderdale on January 3, visiting 50 call ports in 27 countries across 4 continents. Highlights include 9 overnight stays (Tokyo, Kobe, Tianjin-Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, Aqaba-Petra, Istanbul), 10 late-night departures, scenic cruising (Amazon River, Kanmon Strait/Shimonoseki, Dardanelles), full transits of the Panama and Suez Canals, two equator crossings, and one International Date Line crossing.
• Grand Africa Voyage 2021 departs Fort Lauderdale on October 10 and circumnavigates the African continent (clockwise). Calls include 18 main ports plus visits to San Juan (Puerto Rico), Funchal (Madeira), Souda-Chania (Crete), and Aqaba-Petra. Overnight stays include Aqaba, Mahe (Seychelles), Zanzibar, and Cape Town. Late-night departures occur in Souda-Chania, Safaga, Richards Bay, Cape Town, Walvis Bay, and San Juan. Shore excursions feature Jozani Chwaka Bay NP (Zanzibar), Lokobe Strict Reserve (Madagascar), Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park (South Africa), Aquila Private Game Reserve, Abuko Nature Reserve (Gambia), and Foret de Bandia (Senegal).
• Early booking benefits (for full-cruise bookings only) include onboard credit, prepaid gratuities and luggage delivery.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, HAL paused Zaandam’s operations for more than two years (March 2020–May 2022). The “Grand World Voyage 2022” (129-day roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale, January 3–May 12) was canceled. Operations resumed on May 12, 2022, with Canada and New England voyages (between Boston and Montreal), followed by 14-day Caribbean roundtrips from Fort Lauderdale.

Zaandam is Holland America Line’s third R-class liner, with sisterships Amsterdam (now Fred Olsen Bolette), Rotterdam (now Fred Olsen Borealis), and Volendam. The vessel is named after Zaandam, Holland, the principal city of North Holland’s Zaanstad municipality and a historically significant riverport on the Zaan River.

Zaandam was delivered to HAL on April 6, 2000. Her inaugural cruise departed on May 4 (a 6-day Caribbean itinerary from Port Everglades/Fort Lauderdale). The ship was christened by twin sisters Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen (born 1986) — fashion designers, actresses, producers, and authors.

The interior design is music-themed, featuring an extensive collection of musical artifacts and memorabilia — guitars signed by celebrities (Rolling Stones, Santana, Eric Clapton, Queen), various musical instruments (including a saxophone signed by Bill Clinton, the 42nd US President), and music-themed artwork throughout the ship. The Atrium showcases a two-deck-high Dutch pipe organ.

In late January 2021, HAL opened bookings for three World Cruises departing roundtrip from Florida, USA — two aboard Zaandam (Africa Voyage 2022 and World Voyage 2022) and one aboard Volendam (South America and Antarctica 2023).

Early-booking promotional perks included prepaid gratuities, unlimited luggage delivery (to/from Fort Lauderdale, Suites only), welcome gifts (one bottle of sparkling wine), one complimentary shore excursion, Signature Internet Package (4000 minutes per person), in-cabin minibar beverages (four bottles, Suites only), and complimentary laundry, dry cleaning, and pressing (Suites only). Guests paying in full by June 1 of the departure year also received a 3% fare discount.

Holland America Zaandam 2023 Grand World Voyage

MS Zaandam’s 127-day Grand World Voyage departs January 3, 2023, roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale on a westbound route. The itinerary includes 61 ports across 30 countries, visiting the Caribbean (Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Panama), South Pacific (French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Tonga, Australia, New Zealand), Indian Ocean (Mauritius, Reunion), Around Africa (Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Senegal, Morocco), and the Atlantic and Northern Europe (including the Baltic and UK-Ireland).

The voyage features eight overnight port stays — in Panama City (Port Fuerte Amador), Papeete (Tahiti), Sydney (NSW), Hobart (Tasmania), Adelaide, Fremantle, Cape Town (South Africa), and Amsterdam (Holland).

Holland America Zaandam 2022 Grand World Voyage (canceled)

The 129-day westbound itinerary was scheduled to visit 27 countries and 48 ports (including nine overnight stays) in South America (including Brazil’s Amazon), the Caribbean, North Pacific, Asia (Japan, China, Singapore), the Arabian Gulf, and Europe (Mediterranean).

However, the voyage was canceled as Zaandam’s operational pause was extended through May 2022.

Priced started from USD 22500 per person with double occupancy.

Full "Grand World Voyage 2022" early bookings (made by June 1, 2021) received up to USD 6760 pp in OBC (onboard credit) ranging from $500 (oceanview cabins) to $2000 (Pinnacle Suite).