mwj

We have found the MDR dinner food good to excellent on our recent cruises. We have only had one bad dinner meal. The portions are smaller, and that is appreciated. We have found the MDR desserts lackluster, with only a handful we would rate as good. We have found the MDR breakfasts fair to poor, with limited exceptions where we rate them as good. We have found Dive-In consistently good. We have found the pizza poor. We do not consistently use the Lido Market, and so we won't rate it. (fair)

To each their own ... for us HIA isn't worth it, unless we book early and it includes gratuities as well. We drink moderately, and a wine package will more than suffice. We don't do a lot of HAL excursions, and so the excursion money may or may not be of value to us. We don't NEED internet, although we will use it.

No, you simply walk in ...

Cabana pricing is for a range of days, and not strictly a set price per day if booking for the whole cruise. up to 7 days $399 8-10 days $499 11-15 days $599 16-20 days $699 beyond this I don't know the breakdown I do know for 28 days the cost was $1091 and for 35 days was $1434 It is likely priced similar to internet which is $319 for 32-41 days and $287 for 26-31 days. https://rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/HAL-Cabanas.pdf

We have never been kicked out of the Retreat. The attendants are there from ~9-5, plus setup and cleanup time (~8-6). We have gone up later in the evening without any problem.

It's a marketing gimmick to grab people's attention. There is nothing 'free' about it.

Category I on the Pinnacle Class ships will mostly have a sofa. These rooms are all near center elevator on decks 4-8.

It seemed to be optional for staff to wear masks on our recent cruises. I would estimate 1/3 of the staff were wearing a mask in public spaces.

We are disappointed that LCS is departing. It has been the highlight of our early evening entertainment. The addition of the Ocean Bar band is a positive. We enjoyed them on a recent Zaandam cruise. The music venues in general have been good on HAL ships. We noticed on NA that the volume in BBKings and Billboard had been turned downed compared to our cruise four years ago on KDam. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the Main Stage entertainment. The lack of consistency is appalling. With some poor and some fantastic. One can only hope this change to eliminate LCS evolves into real entertainment and enrichment on the Main Stage. If nothing else, hopefully the elimination of LCS also means the elimination of BBC Planet Earth. Seeing the same program as four years ago is not entertainment. Yes, we will voice our disappointment with the elimination of LCS to anyone at HAL that will listen, beginning with guest services and our PCC, and going up the corporate office ladder.

The are very few negatives about this ship. The intimacy of the 'smaller' ship is fantastic. Most all the inside and outside rooms have a couch for sitting. There are numerous nooks and crannies about the ship for sitting and relaxing. The crows nest is virtually empty in the mornings. It's never more than a couple of decks to where you want to go. The Lido deck rarely seemed packed to overflowing. The balconies (Vista Suites) are large with ample storage. It's a ship made for sailing in an inside/outside room, as the costs of suites are higher in proportion to other ships.

If you want a 'short' cruise there are plenty of options available. HAL has hit a home run (so to speak) with this 'commitment' to longer cruises. This also fits well with their target market ... All of our HAL cruises during the next two years are in the range of 12-35 days.

Thank you for posting the update ...

The two cabana attendants on the Nieuw Amsterdam were 'Beverage Runners' by title, one step below 'Beverage Servers'. They had been in that position for two and five months respectively. The latter one (Joey) was promoted at the end of our cruise, and no longer works the cabanas.

What calories? didn’t you upgrade to the no calorie option! 😎

No listed itinerary available

Did a FCR request for ‘25 WC three weeks ago onboard…

We had a wonderful fourteen days. Was it perfect, no there were minor deficiencies most everywhere. None of the deficiencies prevented us from having a marvelous time. If we had one area where we were disappointed, it was the service in the pinnacle grill. Our servers in the MDR were excellent overall. Our room stewards were good overall, with minor details missed. The MDR food was very good, although we found desserts lackluster. The entertainment was very good overall. We had no issues with either embarkation or disembarkation.

When looking at the HAL cruise schedule, there appear to be no sailing’s on the Volendam after April of ‘24.

HAL Volendam has no cruises scheduled post spring of ‘24. Last cruise is canal early may, post grand Australia All other HAL ships are scheduled for summer/fall of ‘24.

We have had no problem getting any drink $11 or less, including wine, beer, and non-alcoholic. Only once did a bartender insist on the ‘Mariner’ cocktail. We then went to a different bartender.

Thanks for your review! We pretty much agree with your overall assessment. Pinnacle Grill breakfast service was spotty at best. We enjoyed our 14 days very much, and love the ship, even if it is in sore need of a dry dock in spots.

Your complaint about the ocean bar must have been heard, as there was piano music the last few nights at 4pm on the dec 11 cruise

We pretty much agree with this assessment. The bbking all stars were also great.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/dining/club-orange.html https://www.hollandamerica.com/content/dam/hal/inventory-assets/activity-types/dining/club-orange/Club_Orange_Benefits.pdf

Prices actually haven't changed ... our 14 day is $599 our 35 day is $1434