South America - the end

Sunday 1 Feb

It’s going home day!!  We got up at 8am and had a leisurely breakfast. I had intended to wear my going-home clothes but it was so hot I got a t-shirt out of the case. The sun was bathing the slopes of the Andes viewed from out hotel room. We were being picked up at noon, but about 10.30 I got a call from the driver checking this was OK so I asked for earlier if possible.  Downstairs we checked out and then sat in the foyer and waited till our driver appeared at 11.30. It was only a 15-20 minute drive to the airport so we were there in plenty of time. We checked our big cases in (mine was 23.4kg but went through OK, possibly as Caryll’s was underweight). We had not been able to print off our boarding passes but I had checked in online and got an SMS text with our passes. These were printed off and given to us by which time we had a couple of hours wait until boarding began.  Once we had taken off (45 mins late), we were asked to keep our seat belts on until we had flown over the Andes – I hope this was only due to thermals and possible turbulence!! 

 

 

 

 

It was a three hour flight till we landed again at Sao Paulo. Here, and much to our surprise, we had to go through bag screening again and our water was confiscated! More expense and a long wait for our 23.50 flight to Heathrow. Again – boarding was delayed but once seated and sorted out, we dozed for much of the time, interrupted only for meals (dinner was a revolting gluey pasta, wine, cheese and biscuits and a cake, breakfast a hot cheese and ham roll, juice, biscuits and jam and melon). The legroom was excellent but seat width restricting. Despite the delays we arrived pretty much on time but it was a very long walk from Terminal 2 where we landed to Terminal 3 for immigration, customs and baggage retrieval. I noticed my big case appeared to have been opened or else I didn’t lock it correctly on leaving the hotel. Our driver was waiting for us, taking our cases and leading us to the car. By 4pm we arrived at Hythe and it took me 3 hours to drive home from there.

Summary – Zaandam

At  61,000 grt Zaandam is a lovely size of ship. On HAL, passenger numbers are deliberately kept low so there were never problems finding seats in the theatre, on deck or when tendering. There was excellent service throughout, accompanied by extra touches like orchids on the Lido and all bar tables, nibbles and hors d’oevres with pre-dinner drinks and happy hour drinks – buy one, get another for $1. There was a good variety of bars, all with live music - cocktail pianist, classical duo, guitarist etc. Impressive level of service – when I asked for Prosecco in Crows Nest one evening, I didn’t realise they didn’t stock it there – the steward went to the Ocean Bar to get it! If you wanted a drink in the Lido Café or on deck, you could ask any waiter and they would bring it – you didn’t have to wait for a bar steward.

 

 

Not quite so happy with the food though. The breakfast buffet was good and varied with freshly-made omelettes, pancakes, Belgian waffles etc always available. Lemonade was free all day as was ice cream. It was the repetitive (IMO) evening menus in the Rotterdam Dining Room I was not so impressed with. Take away the “always available” items of oven roast chicken, grilled salmon and beef loin (all of which were delicious), there was not a great deal of choice or variation – another chicken dish, pasta and meat. Quality was always good but I found many dishes a little too spicy for my taste. Desserts were typically American but the cheese platter was poor – four or so pieces of a variety of cheeses and a couple of biscuits. Sadly America can not do cheese!! One of the daily options at the sandwich bar in the Lido was “Cheddar Cheese”. In my experience proper Cheddar cheese is not the colour of Red Leicester and the texture of Dairylea slices!  As you left the restaurant there was a trolley with mints, ginger, dates and other sweets to complete your meal. Deck space was very good with lots of quiet areas to sit and relax and an open observation deck just under the bridge. When scenic cruising they opened the bow to the passengers as well.

 

 

Would I go again - like a shot!