Embarkation Day on Holland America Zaandam | San Diego Sail Away + Dolphins!

Cruise day is finally here. We board Holland America’s Zaandam in San Diego, explore the ship, sail away, and somehow get dolphins on day one. It’s finally cruise day! After flying from Edmonton to San Diego the day before, we woke up ready to board the **Holland America Zaandam** for our **7-Day Baja Peninsula cruise**. Our check-in time wasn’t until 1:30, so of course we were up early, walking the San Diego waterfront, grabbing coffee, checking out the views, and trying not to head to the cruise terminal too soon. Spoiler: we still got there early. In this episode, we take you along for the full embarkation day experience: * Morning walk along the San Diego waterfront * Views near the Rady Shell and Jacobs Park * Checking in at the San Diego cruise terminal * Boarding Holland America’s Zaandam * First look at our Ocean View stateroom * Exploring the smaller ship layout * Finding coffee, the library, and the pool deck * Muster drill and sail away * First taste of the World Stage performers * Secret staircases and ship exploring * A surprise swarm of bees onboard * Door decorating and unpacking * Dolphins outside our ocean view window * First main dining room dinner * Library café, books, puzzles, games, and piano bar This was our first time sailing on the Zaandam, and it definitely feels smaller than the Noordam and Koningsdam, but in a good way. Cozy, classic, and easy to explore. We also had a very “Steph and Rick” moment when we thought we found a hidden staircase… and may have briefly wandered into a crew-only area. Whoops. The biggest surprise of the day? Dolphins. Lots of them. We saw them during sail away and later right from our ocean view window. Not a bad way to start a Baja cruise. Tomorrow is our first sea day, and it already looks like we’re heading into a full day of port talks, ship exploring, and probably more coffee. The Baja cruise has officially begun. #hollandamerica #zaandam #embarkationday #bajacruise #cruisevlog #SanDiegoCruise #cruiselife #sailaway #stephandrickunpacked #travelcouple Holland America Zaandam, Zaandam embarkation day, San Diego cruise port, Baja Peninsula cruise, Holland America Baja cruise, cruise embarkation day vlog, boarding Holland America Zaandam, San Diego sail away, Zaandam ocean view room, Holland America cruise vlog, cruise day one, Holland America dining room, Zaandam library, cruise ship dolphins, Steph and Rick Unpacked, travel couple cruise vlog, Mexico cruise from San Diego, Holland America 7 day cruise