Getting to know your 2007 Cruise Ships: MS Zaandam

We're only weeks away from that magical time of year when we turn our local waters over to those diesel coughing, gray water vomiting, tourist dollar extracting devices the cruise ships. All hail! There have been a few changes at the Port this year and the new cleaner, greener personal have passed muster with the Bluewater Network, the cruise industry's traditional foil in local media, but Seattlest remains skeptical that increased cruise traffic in the Sound is in our best interest. See today's article on maritime pollution in the Post Intelligencer or this one on cruise ship wastewater. Let's throw our worries and a rock into a burlap money bag for the time being, though, and toss the whole thing overboard. Welcome to Seattle, cruise passengers! Hopefully you find something interesting on Seattlest for your 17 hours in the city! We're going to be talking a little bit about some of the cruise vessels that are coming to town and we're starting with the MS Zaandam.

MS Zaandam

According to the Port's Preliminary 2007 Sailing Schedule Holland America's Zaandam will be the first ship to call in Seattle this season, sailing Monday April, 23. The theme of the 780 foot Zaandam is music, which means the decor adheres to the Hard Rock Cafe school of design, complete with Rolling Stones guitars and other relics of legendary relics, and there is a three-story Baroque pipe organ in the atrium. However, the vessel wasn't a wild success in bridging the gap between Holland America's graying fans and today's cruising demographics--the site 7BlueSeas says the Zaandam is not recommended for "Young, highly-energetic cruise passengers looking for nonstop onboard activities." They do encourage "Upscale passengers who prefer a relatively traditional cruise experience" though. The ship began life on Holland America's Caribbean routes, but has since been relegated to the Seattle-Alaska run. Five 12-cylinder Sulzer diesel engines push the Zaandam's 60,906 gross tons to 23 knots. Beam is 105 feet, draft is 26 feet and she carries 1,432 passengers and 561 crew. Mary Kate and Ashly Olsen christened the boat in 2001 and are its "Godmothers."

Here's a Youtube video of life aboard the Zaandam en route to Alaska.

Image of the MS Zaandam courtesy of Flickr user Eyestalk.