Holland America Zaandam

It was our first cruise and if this is cruising then I want to do it again. The ship was terrific and the service was first class. Food and accommodation were excellent, the crew were attentive and looked after our every need. The Zaandam was very clean throughout and the offshore experiences were great, security was paramount. The balcony suite was excellent, very roomy and our room steward, Harry for short, was excellent and very diligent, he made us feel like we were the only people he was looking after. I would recommend this Alaskan experience to everyone, old and young, it was wonderful and you will thoroughly enjoy every minute of it, just as we did!

My wife & I have just had an excellent holiday via a UK tour operator, 'Travelsphere' which included an Alaskan cruise with Holland America Lines out of Vancouver, Canada. It appears that the predominately Indonesian/Pilipino onboard hotel staff recently had their contracts amended from 7 days x 12 months fulltime (no leave) at US$400/mth all found, plus passenger tips, to US$50/month and a share of passenger tips that are charged at a mandatory $10/per day/pp from ones account.

Thus on a 1400 passenger ship, the passengers end up paying the crew US98K/week and the shipping company profits to the tune of US$350/per crewmember that it previously had as an overhead. If this is true then it would seem that effectively this is a levy on the clients over and above the real advertised cost and that the crew members are at the whim of the tourist - if they make a declaration not to pay the 'mandated' gratuity.