Just back from Volendam RT Vancouver

[RoupMom]

First, we had a wonderful trip! Thanks HAL. Our family of 6 (me, DH, DS, DDIL, 2 grandsons ages 6 & 4) traveled by car from near Seattle, as we wanted this itinerary and ship. The crossing at the border was simple as pie. Thanks, Canada. From posts on this forum, we used CruisePark for the car, which was a dream. The reservations were easy, directions clear, and people friendly; they took all our luggage and the next time we saw it was in our staterooms; on disembarkation they were waiting for us as soon as we got off. I highly recommend them.

 

Embarkation at Canada Place went smoothly. We got there about 12:30, cleared customs/immigration right away, and had only a very brief wait for check-in. Lines were clearly marked. We were on-board by 1:00 and able to leave our bags in our cabins. We lunched in the Rotterdam as Mariners to avoid the crowds at the Lido. Muster for the safety check went smoothly; on deck, but no lifejackets.

 

Now, the ship. Several folks have commented that she seems "tired", but we didn't really notice this. We were on her a year and a half ago and she seemed the same to us. We were on the main deck, which we had not been on before. I probably wouldn't choose it again due to being under the promenade deck, where daily preparations could be a little loud fairly early.

 

The staff was very helpful and friendly. We had one snafu with communications, needing service to a cabin that didn't happen for several hours, but that was the only downside.

 

Our kids loved the Club HAL. We were told there were about 100 kids on board, roughly divided in 3rds by ages. The staff there were wonderful. Unfortunately our kids couldn't attend as often as they liked due to coming down with what I can only assume was norovirus. They were confined to their cabin for 24 hours and didn't really feel all that great afterwards. That happened on Glacier Bay day, and the HAL staff thoughtfully provided them with the Jr. Ranger books (what our kids had been looking forward to) and markers they didn't need to return.

 

There is always discussion of noro. The first two days we were all on what has been called semi-code red -- no self-serve, etc. Although our boys were ill, there didn't appear to be more than a couple of cases throughout the ship. All the personnel knew who our boys were and were very helpful with our requests, including bed changes in the middle of the night a couple of times. The virus was certainly not wide-spread and as a former school nurse, I thought they handled it very well.

 

When well enough, we ate in the Rotterdam the majority of the time, except for breakfast which was always in the Lido. Our 6 yo is pretty adventurous and routinely ate from the adult menu, while the 4 yo preferred the children's. After they were well enough to return to the dining room, they often mixed and matched from the two menus. I particularly LOVE the cold fruit soups, and was very glad to see them still there. What a treat! We had quite a variety of dishes, and all seemed well-prepared. For the first time in my cruising history, I did get a little tired of delicious, rich food by the end of the week --- hard to believe, eh? For the Lido, I think my DS and DDIL will have to start squeezing fresh o.j. for the kids; nothing else will do now except to see it come out of the juicer.

 

Entertainment: we really enjoyed the shows by the Volendam singers and dancers, and went every night they were on but the first. We did not attend the nights the comedian and magician were on, but others said they were good. The dancers did 3 complete shows, only one of which we had seen on our previous cruise on the same ship. Our son is a music teacher and generally critical, but he was very impressed with the quality of the shows. For a variety of reasons we didn't get to hear much of the other groups. We did hear bits of the Neptunes and enjoyed their "theme" hours.

 

We were trying to not spend too much money so did only the railroad in Skagway with HAL. That, of course, was spectacular, and not to be missed. It puts the gold-rush history in a whole other light. In Juneau we took one of the buses in the city (tour buses, not the city bus) to Mendenhall Glacier, which is a very interesting experience. In Ketchikan we did the Lumberjack show, not so much because it's wonderful (it was good enough), but because we thought the little boys would enjoy it, which they did. Glacier Bay was as spectacular as ever, and we were blessed with a sunny day. Despite forecasts of rain for our entire trip, we had none. The days were cool and overcast mostly, with what here in Seattle they call "sun breaks".

 

At the trip back we had about 1/2 hour to 45 minute wait at the border. Sadly, the "gentleman" who saw us through was a real jerk. He had some sort of ego problem and was determined to show his power. He gave us grief about using birth certificates for the kids, even though that is all that is needed. He said we should have passports for them; he could make us go inside for several hours until "it all got straightened out". It was especially frustrating as a mere month ago my son had taken 60 high school students to Victoria and not had an ounce of problem, with most of them having only birth certificates and letters from their parents. Plus, our DS and DDIL had the enchanced driver's licenses and he said nothing about them. Comparing our entrance to the US with the one to Canada made me ashamed for the kind of welcome we give people. Yes, we need security, but this was totally pointless. He had all the info in his computer, as he referred to our return from a cruise even though we said nothing about it, so it should have been easy. OK, search the car if you must, but don't harass us. Our time with him was a good 10-15 minutes.

 

Oh well, the rest of the trip was great except for illness which can't be planned for. The rest of our family had never been to Alaska or on a cruise, so it was a special experience.

I've tried to cover the questions I've seen asked, but feel free to ask anything else that I've missed or to clarify what I've said.

Thanks to all of you for your input in the past (and future, too, I imagine!)

[canadianbear]

Thanks for the report. Glad you had a good time and survived the downsides!

We love cruising to Alaska and I personally never tire of seeing the glaciers. Glad your kids enjoyed the lumberjack show too.

[portofrome]

Thank you very much for your review.

[startwin]

Thanks for the review. I'm not new to HAL but never been on the Volendam and we're sailing on her in September. I've read some pretty mixed reviews.

 

We're also booked onto the Main deck so a bit concerned about your comments re noise, but I am a fairly early riser, and DH sleeps through anything :D, so hopefully it won't be a problem.

 

Sorry to hear about your problems going back into the States, that's one of the reasons we seldom drive down there anymore. But I think we've just been unlucky because others say they have no issues. However, our experiences have not been fun:(.

[mtnmommy]

Thank you for your review! It always stinks to get sick on vacation, but it sounds like you handled it really well.

 

We also had problems at the border returning from our HAL Alaska cruise. We do have passports for our kids. However, our daughter is adopted from China, and they were demanding adoption papers, birth certificates, etc. (They did not question our son, presumably because he is Caucasian like us.) They even questioned her (she was 4)--"Who are these people?" "Where were you born?" "How did your parents get you?" Ridiculous. We've been questioned before, but this was truly ugly. Obviously, we have to have a passport for her, but I do recommend getting them for your kids--they're good for 5 years and worth the money just to avoid hassles like this.

[SwissMyst]

Great report and glad you had such a good time with your family, not withstanding the virus. I also had a strange time at the US customs/immigration, though it was getting off the ship in Vancouver which was a nice convenience.

 

But the guy wanted another ID besides my passport. He wanted to confirm the passport belonged to me and made some comment about the photo - taken about 6 years ago. Different hair style but same color. Hmmmmph. I had my drivers license, but normally I would not be taking that along necessarily.

 

I thought a passport was as good as it can get. Guess again. So maybe there is a peculiar brand of power-tripper immigration guys on this border.

[canadianbear]

My son and his girlfriend decided to travel via the train from Vancouver to and from Seattle instead of the hassle of driving through the border on their cruise. They highly recommend it as there were no issues at all-no border line ups either.

 

Some of the border people are just plain rude and seem to hassle the wrong people but since we have no control over it not much we can do. Does tend to spoil that part of the vacation when you get one of those doesn't it.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your report.

 

Sorry about the boys getting sick.

[lilipad2]

Thanks for your post! I'll be traveling on another vessel with my 5 yr old and you touched on several points of interest for us. It was also good to hear your take on your children's illness -- especially from the perspective of a nurse. Thanks!

[IRL_Joanie]

Even though there was a minor glitch an noro it sounds like a great review. Loved the attitude of all of you!!

 

 

All I ask is for photos.

 

Joanie

[Himself]

Thanks for a good report on one of my favorite ships.

[RoupMom]

Thanks for the comments, folks. We did have an enjoyable time, despite all the glitches. Thankfully most of those viral illnesses last only about 24 hours, so it doesn't need to totally spoil one's trip.

It's really unfortunate that so many people have trouble at the border. I try to remember that these folks have tough jobs, and that it WAS a border patrol person who caught the "LA bomber", but really...............

As for the main deck, the noise was really pretty minor and never before around 6:30 AM as I remember. It was just the moving of deck chairs on a few mornings, and the water on the windows as they mopped the deck. If one is at all a sound sleeper it should be a minor disturbance at most. I'm just always looking for the perfect cruise! :p The cabins were really fine, it's just that I always like to choose my one, and I wouldn't choose this deck again. OTOH, the last time we were on the Volendam, I had chosen our cabin on the Promenade deck, and we were upgraded to a verandah! I wouldn't turn that down!

[44disney]

So glad to finally have some info on the Volendam!!! Thank you for taking the time to post! I'm glad that you had a great time despite the illnesses -- having a good attitude goes a long way to making a vacation wonderful and memorable!

 

My family and I are heading out on the Volendam in 8 more days!!! I can't wait to ride the train in Skagway. We were there 4 years ago and it was the highlight of the trip!

[PerthJohn]

Thankyou for a great review. We are on the Volendam in August so we are very interested in aby comments on this ship.

[Sailkeywest]

Lovely review, thank you for taking the time to write it. Also, if you happen to have any photos of the ship and/or views that you would like to share, we would love to see them :)

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles at the border, that is my biggest worry when we return to the states and have to make our connection flight.. I am wonderring if 1 hr 50 mins will be enough to do it!