Writer Robin Fowler based this independent review on her 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise departing from Port Canaveral, Florida.

A traditional ship for modern times is what awaits passengers of Zaandam, a vessel with old-fashioned deck chairs on the Lower Promenade and two rows of private balconies strung along upper decks. Zaandam’s negotiable size -- 63,000 tons, carrying 1,440 passengers -- lends a familiarity and intimacy that can’t be found on larger ships. A classical design, deep marine-blue hull, expanses of teak with brass fittings -- it all portends a dignified and mellow cruise experience.

A musical theme is evident from the first glimpse of a baroque-style Dutch pipe organ so large that it seems almost wedged into the three-deck-tall atrium. First order of business upon arrival is to locate the framed guitar signed by the Rolling Stones -- almost a holy grail for the ship’s baby boomer passengers -- and then a framed saxophone signed by President Bill Clinton. These and other celebrity artifacts start the cruise on just the right note, so to speak.

Why Zaandam?

• Relax, relax, relax: A laid-back ambience allows you to sink into a deck chair for a couple of hours without fear that you’ll miss something. And if you do, so what?
• Deals and steals: Careful shoppers can get a premium cruise for a budget price on many sailings, particularly in the Caribbean. While onboard, convenient money-saving packages cover almost everything that requires an extra expenditure, from sodas and wine to bundled Internet minutes, exercise classes, and unlimited laundry.
• Hanging on to traditions: From the most formal of formal nights to elegant afternoon tea, Zaandam teems with tradition.

Who should go
Zaandam appeals to sophisticated and well-traveled baby boomers who want a traditional cruise experience and prefer golf chipping at the pool to the hairy-leg and belly-flop contests on trendy new ships.

Who shouldn’t go
While the daily program lists plenty to do, Type A personalities who need constant activity and loud music might be happier elsewhere. Zaandam offers a party, but not 24/7.

Heard on the deck: “Cruising on Zaandam is therapy -- but more fun and not as expensive. And I should know.”

Hits and misses

• Don’t miss: Zaandam's art is stunning. Don’t miss the jaw-dropping collection of ancient Egyptian jewelry, artifacts, and reproductions outside the Erasmus Library on Upper Promenade Deck.
• Best part of the ship: A retractable glass roof over the Lido Pool area gets passengers into the sea air in all weather. The cover opens wide to the sun but shelters passengers from raw days in Alaska and rainy or windy days in the Caribbean.
• Best experience: Envelop yourself in an old-fashioned teak deck chair on the shady Lower Promenade Deck to read or nap.
• Best shipboard activity: If you wonder where everyone went, they’re dancing under the stars to the Zaandam Orchestra at the deck party. Help yourself to the barbecued ribs and steak and end up on Sky Deck for late-night star gazing with the ship’s officers.
• Needs improvement: While smoking is limited to designated areas, those areas tend to be in busy parts of the ship, like the casino and sports bar.
• Activities to skip: Some spa seminars emphasize treatments and products rather than free information.

Heard on the deck: “Seems like you should be able to take a taxi down this long deck.”

How to meet the captain
Suite occupants share a private cocktail party with the captain. Other passengers can be photographed with him at the traditional champagne reception on the first formal night early in the cruise. Due to health issues, however, passengers are asked not to shake his hand -- a sign of the times.

There’s simply no minute in the day when food is not available. With so many selections in the dining room, at the specialty restaurant and buffet, and through room service, there’s no excuse not to have a delicious meal every time you sit down. If you like, order multiples -- a double order of lobster, perhaps.

Rotterdam Dining Room
Five-course dinners with half a dozen entrées from which to choose are served in the two-level Rotterdam Dining Room. Assigned seatings are staggered slightly so that passengers arrive at 5:45, 6:15, 8, and 8:30. There are plenty of tables with sea views, and fiber optics in the ceiling give the illusion of twinkling stars throughout the restaurant. The look is elegant, never more so than on formal night when crisp white chair covers complement passengers dressed to impress. Where the food is concerned, it’s hard to go wrong. Prime rib is perfectly prepared and a pretty sight on the Rosenthal china, and lobster night is a hit starting with escargot and caviar. My one complaint was the tiny salad shrimp in appetizer cocktails and other dishes -- a real disappointment. Rotterdam is also open for sit-down breakfast and lunch -- a casual affair, though more formal than what you'll find in the Lido Restaurant.

Pinnacle Grill
The fish is fresh and the meat is aged perfectly at this sophisticated specialty restaurant with a Pacific Northwest theme. Bulgari china nestles under bud vases of delicate orchids on tables exquisitely set and arranged to promote intimate conversation. Muted lighting issues a hint of romance if you’re not feeling it already, and the wait staff is so well trained that you’ll wonder if there are exercises for those food presentation maneuvers. Main courses include grilled halibut and salmon, but the favorites are thick steaks. The cost is $20 per person ($10 the first night of the cruise), or $59.50 for two, including wine. Reservations are required.

Note: Now open for lunch, the Pinnacle Grill usually appears undiscovered at the noon hour but is a good choice for quiet conversation or to avoid buffet crowds. I highly recommend the halibut sandwich. The lunch cost is $10 and reservations are required.

Lido Restaurant
Meal service is almost nonstop in the Lido, with buffet breakfast, lunch, and dinner punctuated by a pasta bar, deli, salad bar, and ice cream parlor. Some days there’s an extra Dutch brunch or lunchtime stir-fry bar. Dine at tables by the window or take your tray out on deck. Casual dinner in the Lido is courtlier than one might expect, with attendants to carry trays and deliver main courses -- many of the same options served in the Rotterdam Dining Room that night -- to tables.

Other dining options

• Terrace Grill: This poolside grill serves burgers cooked to order, as well as pizza, tacos, and hot dogs. It’s tasty and quick, perfect for those who can only give up so much pool time.
• Java Café: At writing, this popular coffee bar served free espresso drinks but, alas, there are plans to charge for them as other lines do.
• Room service: An expansive menu is available 24 hours per day. Dishes can also be ordered from the dining room menu during dinner hours.
• Midnight buffet: Themed snacks -- Italian, French, Mexican, Southwestern -- are available late in the Lido Restaurant.
• Afternoon tea: A dessert extravaganza with mousses and chocolate-dipped strawberries is the focus of one late-afternoon tea in the Rotterdam Dining Room. Dutch high tea with sweets and finger foods is another special treat.

Best dining

• Best dish: Try one of Pinnacle Grill’s perfectly prepared steaks. And you can’t go wrong with the Dungeness crab cakes with Thai chili lime butter sauce.
• Dessert: The signature bread pudding with vanilla sauce in the Lido Restaurant is so popular that the staff hands out the recipe later in the cruise.
• Restaurant: Pinnacle Grill is well worth its $20 fee. Start with Thai chicken soup with coconut milk and lemon grass and follow with a steak -- porterhouse, ribeye, or filet mignon. End with an exquisite baked Alaska that will spoil you for the perfectly fine version served in the dining room.
• Dining seminar: At a food and beverage highlights session that resembles a mini-fair, demonstrations at several workstations teach passengers to mix a perfect martini, fold napkins decorously, carve fruits, and braid bread into animal figures.

How to…

• Get a table for two: If dining à deux is imperative, book a “Just For Us” romance package that guarantees a table for two in the Rotterdam Dining Room. You can always reserve a table to yourselves in the Pinnacle Grill or find one at the Lido Restaurant.
• Celebrate a birthday or anniversary: Purchase a Celebration Package that includes flowers, champagne, a framed photo, and dinner for two in the Pinnacle Grill (current rate is $119). Flowers alone start at $29, and waiters in the dining room will sing “Happy Birthday” for nothing more than a smile.
• Change seating: The maître d’ fields requests for tables of different sizes or locations, more compatible tablemates, and earlier or later seatings.
• Dress for formal night: Women baking in the sun a scant few hours earlier are transformed in formal gowns or cocktail dresses. Men don tuxedos, suits, or jackets and ties. Formal wear for both men and women can be rented and delivered to cabins. If you’re not in the mood to play dress-up, head to the Lido for a casual buffet dinner.
• Dress for casual nights: Most choose colorful resort wear, but almost anything goes (except shorts, tank tops, swimwear, and workout attire).

Tips:

• If you miss the Dungeness crab cakes at Pinnacle Grill, attend the cooking demonstration. The 217-seat Wajang Theatre fills up quickly for a brief cooking lesson, and samples are available for everyone.
• Soda drinkers can buy a package that allows unlimited refills for $27.50. If you pay as you go, soft drinks cost $1.75 each.
• Dinner wines can be purchased in a package of four bottles for $82, or six for $125. Or, get a glass of wine nightly in the dining room for a total of $19.95 on a week-long cruise.

Cabins on Zaandam are spacious, ranging from 182-square-foot inside cabins to a 1,126-square-foot penthouse suite. Most are decorated in shades of blue, gold, and rose. Deluxe suites provide complimentary laundry, pressing, and dry cleaning; 24-hour concierge service; personalized stationery; and special embarkation and disembarkation privileges. Some inside cabins and all oceanview cabins have bathtubs as well as showers, and all provide fresh fruit baskets, plush robes, and more storage than you can fill, even if you over packed. In-cabin TVs feature movies, cable channels, and port and shore excursion information. A rarity that is very much appreciated: On the last morning of the cruise, Zaandam allows passengers to relax in their cabins (rather than a crowded public room) while awaiting their call to disembark.

Cabins for guests with disabilities
Twenty-two cabins are wheelchair-accessible, and service dogs can be accommodated. However, dogs are not allowed off the ship at some ports.

Tips:

• Tips are automatically added to shipboard accounts at a rate of $10 per person, per day, but passengers can adjust the amount at the front office.
• For $30, guests can purchase a package allowing unlimited pressing; for $45, unlimited laundry. Or, you can do it yourself for free at four self-serve laundries situated around the ship.

Heard on the deck (from a passenger to his spouse): “Please, the daily program is not a drill sheet. I just want to take a nap in this deck chair.”

Bars, lounges, and casino
High atop the ship, the Crow’s Nest draws the most nightlife and has nooks conducive to intimate conversation -- it’s a favorite with singles. On deck near the Lido Pool is the attractive Dolphin Bar, decorated with wicker chairs, umbrellas, and greenery (comfortable enough to make the rum punches go down too easy). The sleek Ocean Bar is a favorite before and after dinner and shows, featuring contemporary music for dancing. Explorer’s Lounge is where a string ensemble performs classical music. There’s a piano bar and a sports bar, and a devoted following can be found in the casino at 109 slots and a range of table games. There are tournaments and free lessons and clinics, and you can sign up to $1,000 a day to your shipboard account for use within the casino.

Shows
Zaandam’s singers and dancers perform energetic Las Vegas-style reviews twice a week, but the 560-seat Mondriaan Lounge’s intimate stage best suits comedians, magicians, jugglers, and impressionists. Sightlines are excellent. Other favorites include a hilarious passenger-participation show featuring extroverts lip-synching golden oldies, and a sentimental amateur show of Filipino and Indonesian songs by the ship’s waiters and stewards. The art deco Wajang movie theater shows first-run films four times a day -- and yes, there’s popcorn.

Shore excursions
Holland America sells a full complement of shore excursions, from a two-tank certified dive in the Caribbean to glacier kayaking in Alaska. Some excursions sell out, so consider booking online in advance of your cruise. In the Caribbean, tours that book the fastest are those on Half Moon Cay, Holland America’s private resort in the Bahamas. Excursions there include parasailing, snorkeling, diving, kayaking, fishing, horseback riding, and other active pursuits, with plans for the addition of a stingray lagoon and aqua park. Excursion details are available continuously on in-cabin TVs.

Weddings and vow renewals
Wedding packages start at $1,295 and include a ceremony, flowers, a cake, and champagne. Photos, live music, and receptions can be added. Renewal of vows costs $99 per couple plus $12.50 per guest; at the chapel on Half Moon Cay, $49 per couple plus $6.50 per guest.

Looking for…

• Quietest spot: The writing tables along windows in Erasmus Library offer inspirational ocean vistas.
• Liveliest spots: If you’re looking for someone, you’ll probably find him or her at the Lido Pool by day and the casino at night.
• Best view: High atop the ship, the Crow’s Nest is the best spot to watch sunrises and sunsets. For panoramic views, settle into a blue leather recliner in front of floor-to-ceiling windows. At night the mood changes as the party starts at about 11.
• Best drink: Try any of the martinis at the Ocean Bar. The 007 Martini is -- of course -- shaken, not stirred.
• Best show: Texas impressionist Paul Tanner, a guest performer, amusingly mimics popular singers from Willie Nelson to Tom Jones. Neil Diamond fans in particular will like the show. Passengers also appreciate the ship’s 10-member cast of singers and dancers, especially when the show bill offers Broadway tunes.
• Best activity: A kitchen tour that includes an ice-carving demonstration and a lunch preview is among the most popular events of the week, with scores of passengers lining up to see the inner workings of the ship. If you miss it, buy a cruise highlights video for $35; it includes crew activity behind the scenes.

Tips:

• Look for a culinary arts theater and other upgrades in coming months as Holland America implements improvements throughout the fleet. Other upgrades include an improved youth program with teen deck, expanded 24-hour room service, more Greenhouse Spa treatments, and an Internet café powered by The New York Times.
• Announcements are held to a minimum, so take your daily program with you as you move about the ship.
• In the Internet café, buy 250 minutes for $100 (40¢ per minute) or 100 minutes for $55 (55¢ per minute), or pay as you go (75¢ per minute). Purchase a package the first day of the cruise and get an extra 20 minutes free.

Spa and salon
Watch the daily spa specials and pounce when you see one you like. There are the typical massages and facials, and then there are the firming and toning treatments that involve seaweed wraps and mild electrical shocks promising to reduce the appearance of cellulite. Traveler’s tension specials run $49 for a back, neck, and shoulder massage and $25 for a foot and ankle massage. In addition to exotic treatments, passengers can get a useful bikini or lip wax. And kudos to the spa staff for keeping pitches for expensive unctions within reason.

Fitness areas
The Ocean Health Club menu includes Pilates, yoga, and fitball classes for $11 each, or a 10-class pass for $55. Free classes include aerobics, stretch exercises, and body conditioning. Also free is a series of fitness seminars on detoxing for weight loss, eating more to weigh less, back care, and secrets to a flatter stomach. There’s a battery of the latest exercise equipment, and personal training is $75 for one hour. On deck, two netted practice courts add tennis, volleyball, and basketball to active sports options.

One-day specials include the ubiquitous gold chains by the inch, loose gemstones, and T-shirt sales in boutiques that stock tax- and duty-free casual and logo clothing, jewelry, fragrances, and liquor. Art auctions feature high-dollar etchings by Rembrandt and Picasso, but pieces by lesser-known artists can be shipped home for about $100. The free champagne available at each session guarantees a respectable crowd.

Heard on the deck: “I have strict orders -- and I mean strict -- to put in an appearance at the shop to inspect jewelry that she wants as a ‘surprise’ for her birthday.”

Tip: The ship’s boutiques will match prices or refund the difference if identical items are found cheaper ashore. There’s also an unconditional one-year guarantee on fine jewelry and watches purchased on the ship.

Heard on the deck (during a jewelry sale): “So much gold, so little cash.”

Club HAL occupies sunny quarters on Sports Deck. Programs for children ages 5-8 include storytelling and pizza parties, while children ages 9-12 enjoy scavenger hunts and theme parties and teens ages 13-17 take dance lessons and play arcade games. Programs are operated with an open-door policy, which means that participants can come and go as they please. Youngsters under age 5 can join the fun when accompanied by an adult.

Tips:

• Kids-only shore excursions are available at Half Moon Cay in the Caribbean.
• As might be expected, more children are found onboard during summer months and school holidays.
• Babysitting is usually available for a fee.

Zaandam’s 2005 schedule includes seven-day Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries during the winter, and Glacier Bay and Inside Passage cruises in Alaska during the summer. She also sails longer Panama Canal cruises when switching between the two regions.

• Cruise line - Holland America
• Ship name - Zaandam
• Type of cruise - Elegant
• Passenger capacity - 1440
• Decks - 10
• Total cabins - 720
• Private balcony cabins - 197
• Total crew - 647
• Year entered service - 2000
• Tonnage - 60906
• Officers nationality - Dutch/British
• Ship size - Large
• Registry - Netherlands
• Ship length - 780