Written by Chillie Falls, April 6, 2023 for AccessAdventure.net
I sailed on Holland America’s ms Zaandam on March 4, 2023 from Ft Lauderdale to San Diego. This was a full transit Panama Canal cruise, and a longtime bucket list cruise for me. It also became the infamous “phone” cruise where my Uber driver accidentally knocked my phone from my carry-on bag. He did not find the phone until after the Zaandam had sailed so I sailed without a phone/camera on one of my most important cruises of the year.
This report was delivered in full to Hotel Manager Leone Henry and her staff before I left the ship in San DIego.
Embarkation/Debarkation
I had a couple complaints over embarkation, but minor ones. Holland America still follows the old guidlines of allowing Scootaround to only deliver the scooters to the cabin, rather than in person at the terminal. Many of us in the disabled community would prefer terminal delivery rather than being forced to endure getting pushed around in a usually too small, uncomfortable and ill-repaired wheelchairs.
All the technical embarkation procedures were well planned, well implemented and I spent no more than 15 minutes for security and check in.
The wheelchair pusher took me directly to my cabin where the scooter was waiting.
For debarkation, Zaandam has improved on several other HAL ships I have sailed where I complained about the disaster of having wheelchair guests and the throng of guests carrying their own luggage trying to get off the ship on the same deck. On Zaandam, I went to a different deck, the wheelchair was taken down one deck via a reserved elevator, and merged into the line of luggage carryings disembarking guests.
This was quite an improvement.
Accessible Cabin 2500
I resided in accessible cabin 2500 on Deck 2, an oceanview cabin. Because it was located in the very bow of the ship, it was a bit odd shaped for most cabins and lacked space for maneuvering my scooter or walking the few steps needed when in my room. The desk area, closets and drawers were like most cruise ships but I could not access the left side of the bed (standing at the foot of the bed) and had only a very narrow path to walk along the right side to get into the bed. And the porthole was a total waste. I could not get anywhere near that to look out.
It might have been better to ask my room guys, who were great, to separate the single beds giving me an aisle down the middle but I am not sure since I have never had that problem.
The bathroom was fine with all the needed amenities and a roll-in shower with a bench. It had plenty of space also.
My biggest issue with the room however, was the door. It was not an automatic or pushbutton door needed if one is on a scooter or in a wheelchair and travelling solo. I demonstrated the difficulty I have in using a regular door from my scooter to Hotel manager Henry and her staff.
Public Restrooms
All of the handicapped public restrooms had automatic doors and were separated from the non-handicapped counterparts. There was one on every public accessed deck on the ship. Admittedly some were co-ed restrooms that most of us are accustomed to but still apart from the regular public rooms so there was very little totally ambulatory guests sneaking into the handicapped restrooms.
I did recommend that the busier decks needed a second location even though Zaandam is a relatively small ship.
Pools and Recreation Areas
Both pools were inaccessible unless you can walk 8-10 feet and traverse a pool-around bench. All hot tubs were up five or six steps. There was no evidence of a lift chair.
Deck 10, the Sky Deck, is totally inaccessible. None of the elevators go to that deck so you are forced to traverse a flight of stairs to get up there.
Deck 9 has a couple very heavy wooden doors that have about a 2 inch lip. If one is struggling with the door from a scooter or chair, they might not see the lip or drop off the lip. I recommended some signage for those areas.
Several of the bar areas, like in the solarium, are up one or two steps. Mostly, they are well marked and have ramps to access that level. I might have to ride around a little, but I was not blocked from any of those areas.
Finally, on Deck 9 aft, there are two stair wells that go down to Deck 8. Both are in the vicinity off where guests stand looking out at the wake. Because of the way the wood, and the railings sort of blend together, I could see someone visually challenged to not realize that was the top of stairs and take a tumble. Because of the ambience of the wake views, rather than signage or yellow cones, I suggested a simple fix of bright yellow tape across the top step, something bright enough to draw a visually challenged persons eyes down and they would recognize stairs and stay back.
All in all, Zaandam was pretty good as far as accessibility is concerned. My friend Kristy Durso has worked a lot with Holland America and it shows. Not perfect, but pretty good. I would suggest Zaandam to anyone in the disabled community.