Volendam 3/30 to 4/9 Review

[2rg]

Hope to keep this short so here goes:

 

Our general comments for a quick review in a nut shell are - very quick check-in, the food was maybe the best we have ever had on HAL, verranda was fantastic, service as usual was great (noticable reduction in crew), entertainment very good, 8:30 dinner was the PITS, mariner party was a bums rush, ports and tours were pretty good to great, check-out quick if somewhat disorginized. Read on for more details.

 

Flights there were on time and we arrived at FLL at 11:00, had our bags and on board the bus by 11:30. The driver told us the buffet would start at 12 so I told him he better hurry, we only had a half hour to get there. ;-)

 

We were through check in and in our cabin by 12:15 and at the Lido by 12:30. Check in was a breeze. Luckly someone had mention about the hand sanitizers during boarding so we were prepared for it. Most pax were sent to the Lido and not their cabin. They had a seperate bag storage area set aside for their carry ons. No escort to our cabin at check-in but there was for those who went to the Lido. First night we found we were seated at a table for 10 with 3 other couples, we had requested a table for 2. More later.

 

We treated ourselves to a verranda and my wife has told me she's not going back down in the hold again. Worse yet she saw a suite and now wants one for our next cruise. The cabin was great and we really enjoyed it. Beds bedding and towels a marked improvement.

 

Enjoyed the ship while at sea for the next 2 days. On the second day we tried to get our table changed and were told that there were 94 requests for a table for 2 and only 34 tables. Needless to say we didn't get a new assignment, again more to follow.

 

Aruba- We took the Off road 4 wheel drive tour and had a blast. Paired with another couple and he drove the start and end of the tour. I got to drive all the off road protion. It ended with a swim which we all needed after the drive. Highly recommend the tour. Nice port and we walked around afterward.

 

Curacao- We took the beach express tour and spent half the day at the beach. Fantastic! Beautiful beach and nice ride out there. Also highly recommended. Love the town but being Sunday and with us getting back late from the tour we didn't get to see much of it. Willemstad has a fireworks display for all HAL ships as they leave and we were able to watch from our verranda.

 

Dominica - Took the favorites tour to the falls and Emerald pool. Tour was ok, we hadn't planned on swimming at the pool, good thing because you couldn't get near it. Still a pleasant time.

 

Tortola - Went to Virgin Gorda and the Baths, we were dissappointed after hearing so much about it. Sea was kind of rough but still fun to play in once you realized about the undertow. Again a pleasant time.

 

Half Moon Cay - It took 3 cruises but we fianlly got there and were able to enjoy the liquid sunshine. We happened to be ready early so went ashore before our tour. Our Kayak Adventure was canceled because the sea was rough. Walked around and must say we were impressed by the island. Beautiful beach. Would like to do it when we could enjoy the beach. Stayed for the BBQ. Dissappointing, food cold but since there was no crowd we had the place almost to ourselves. Found out later they stopped anyone from going ashore sometime after we left. We were there with the Zaandam and there weren't many from that ship either. The ride back to the ship was interesting, water over the bow and forward cabin. I can see why they are careful about the weather there. We would love to be there when the sun was out.

 

We ended up enjoying our table mates and listening to their view on the cruise and life in general. One couple was from Boston, 1 from N Carolina and 1 from Mexico. We also had dinner with the ships doctor and his wife for 2 of the formal night and an assistant cruise director for the last night. A very nice time with good company.

 

The Lido, room service and dinning room food were all great. Only complaint was the desserts, kind of bland and no varity. Several cruises ago I complained that I couldn't get a good cut of beef, on this cruise I couldn't get a bad cut. One table mate couple used the Pinnicle and raved about the food and service. We didn't get a chance to try it. Never seemed to have many people there.

 

Major complaint - 8:30 dinning. It's too late and you feel rushed at the end because they are cleaning up from the 8:00 seating. The Baked Allaska parade was at 9:00 while we were being served our main course. Noticable lack in staff but they still maintained a high level of service.

 

Mariners Party. Total elapsed time for it 1/2 hour from the time they opened the door to the final award. We had 1039 mariners on board per the captian, (c not C intentionally). We had seen 2 - 100,000 mile mariners and 1 - 300 day pax before. This cruise had 5 - 300 day including 1 receiving their award and 4 - 500 day also including 1 receiveing their award. The captian not only hadn't met these people but had to read their names from the list. For this lack of interest in the mariners I blame the captian. If he wasn't interested enough to do the party right he should have done it at all.

 

The entertainers were pretty good. We took in 3 shows and enjoyed them. Also went to the theater several times. The internet cafe was well run and we used it almost every day. Signed up for 110 min. for $55, got another 10 min free and then bought another 15.

 

In general a very good cruise and we weren't ready to come home.

[Sage]

Thank you for your review of the Volendam. She is our favorite ship, and we are looking forward to being back on her in just 43 more days. I agree that once you have had a look at the veranda and the suites, it is hard to go back.

[ekerr19]

We were on the cruise before yours - I got my 100-day medallion. I am surprised the Cruise Director wasn't the one reading the Mariner's names like he normally is - plus the Captain is Dutch and some of the pronounciation may be difficult for him. He really is a charming man - we've cruised with him several times.

 

It our reception, he told the wonderful story of the history of the Volendam and how she was used during the war to transport refugees, we really enjoyed hearing that bit of unknown (to us) history.

 

Thanks for your review! Enjoyed hearing about your cruise, we wish we were back in our cabin as we speak. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

We had heard that the Volendam has had the most number of Mariners on it the last couple of years compared to any other ship.

On both of our segments we had over 1000 Mariners. And from reading your reports and others, this seems to be true.

The CD read the names of the awardees on our segments.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[2rg]

Sorry I misspoke, the cruise director did read the awardee names but it was obvious that the captian had not met these people. I could only define the party as a bums rush, it was not worth our time nor a sign of reconigition from HAL. Had any of our past mariner partys been like this we wouldn't go to them.

 

This was our second stretch S class ship and we liked her but for some reason the Volendam felt different that the Rotterdam. The ships are nearly identical but for some reason felt different. She is a beautiful ship and we would sail her again. Didn't feel like she needed any major redo, just saw normal wear and tear. The verannda furniture looked a bit worn but then not any worse than mine out by the pool.

 

We docked next to the Zui at Tortola and were surprized at how much bigger she was. She looks beautiful but we're not sure we want a ship the size of the Vista's. One of our table mates had spoken to one of the Zui pax and on the previous cruise the pax had been offered another week on board for $300, (I assume that was the starting rate). Must still be having problems filling her up. I thought she was getting good reviews lately. Had they offered anything like that on the Volendam we would have jumped at it.

 

Only real problem we had was we had no hot water at Aruba. Called the front desk and they sent the cabin stewart who, after checking, told us we had no hot water. He said he would tell engineering but they couldn't get to us till after 8. About 7 engineering showed up, checked and told us we had no hot water. Gee do ya think? While on tour our jeep mates had had the same problem the previous day but it had been corrected, they were in a suite on the deck above us. That night I found if you let the water run for about 10 minutes it would get warm enough to shower. Next day and for the rest of the cruise the water was hot but we had to have the facuet set at max.

[sungoddess]

Hi there,

 

When should the Captain have met the Mariners? That is the purpose of the party; usually he stands at the door and greets everyone as they come in. The Captain is VERY busy and hosts many social events; unfortunatley, there is not enough time for him to meet everyone one on one.

[2rg]

Sungoddess, I guess your saying that he doesn't have time to have a seperate little party for the say the dozen or 2 that maybe in the 300 + day catagory. I would call it a smart move on his part to at least meet them at some point before the mariners party and to know the woman sitting next to where he's standing is one of the people he's about to award a 300 day metal to. But thats mho. You could consider it job security on HAL's part if not his. Saying he's to busy and has other things to do is a cop out. He makes time for other cocktail parties, we have been invited to 2 others as well as 1 on this cruise, why not a special one for them. While I don't know why we were invited to these parties I suspect it's because our TA paid for it. If so it's $$$$ down the line.

[doone]

You embarked the day I disembarked. Glad you enjoyed the Volendam, I know we sure did for our cruise.

[sungoddess]

It's not up to the Captain to schedule Mariners receptions; HAL corporate dictates when and where these parties are held. Also, the Mariners list is not complete until near the end of the cruise. We do not recieve this info in advance from the head office, the Front Desk Attendants have to compile it form your immigration forms handed in at embarkation. It takes quite a while to get through 1400+ forms; then they have to call guests who have filled them out only partially or have left that info blank. By the time the list is completed and the inviations are sent out, there isn't much time left. And, yes, I know the Captain hosts other parties, which was my point. He has many social obligations every day in addition to his navigational duties. The Mariners who have 100+ days are invited to the VIP party, so in a sense, they are given a special party.

[2rg]

Well we each see things differently and that's what makes the world go round. You are intitled to your opinion just as I am to mine. But to correct you, at the 1st captians cocktail party we were invited to none of our party of 10 were 100 day metal holders.

[ekerr19]

Also, Captain Visser had just arrived to the Volendam on our cruise, 3/20/05. Believe me, he is very visable, we spoke with him for about 20 minutes one of the Suite's reception and ran into him on several occassion and he knew who we were. We also have cruised with him in the past and he remembered us from the final voyage of the Noordam last November.

 

I guess my point is, if you go out of your way to introduce and speak with someone, chances are they will reciprocate. Many people (including Mariner's) could care less about ever meeting or speaking to the Captain, so why should he force himself on people?

 

It bothered me a bit to hear you speak badly of him - then it turned out it was the CD, and also the comment "c intentionally not C" seems very dismissive. I'm sorry you think it's all his fault the Mariner's party wasn't up to your expectation, but I think the blame is very misplaced.

[sungoddess]

To correct you, I am not referring to the Captain's cocktail party, but the VIP party that is held mid-way through the cruise. It is not only for 100+ medal holders, but for a large assortment of guests. Usually, there are around 100 guests invited to this special party. I agree with Ekerr, while you may not have enjoyed the party, your blame is misplaced.

[rkacruiser]

To correct you, I am not referring to the Captain's cocktail party, but the VIP party that is held mid-way through the cruise. It is not only for 100+ medal holders, but for a large assortment of guests. Usually, there are around 100 guests invited to this special party. I agree with Ekerr, while you may not have enjoyed the party, your blame is misplaced.

 

sungoddess,

 

Could you be more specific about who the "large assortment of guests" are that are invited to the VIP Party? I have wondered about who receives an invitation to this Party for some time.

[sungoddess]

It usually includes travel agents, honeymooners, international guests (non US or Canadian) persons who have been deemed VIP by HAL head office for one reason or another, 100+ Mariners, and guests whose travel agent has purchased a VIP package for them. I know people are probably going to respond and say that they were on their honeymoon etc, and weren't invited, but it really varies from cruise to cruise depending on the info the ship has recieved from the head office.

[dakrewser]

It usually includes travel agents, honeymooners, international guests (non US or Canadian) persons who have been deemed VIP by HAL head office for one reason or another, 100+ Mariners, and guests whose travel agent has purchased a VIP package for them. I know people are probably going to respond and say that they were on their honeymoon etc, and weren't invited, but it really varies from cruise to cruise depending on the info the ship has recieved from the head office.

 

The problem with enumerating possible categories of guests who get invited to the VIP party is that others in that category on other cruises don't get invited and somehow feel slighted. In 5 HAL cruises, we've been invited to the VIP party once, didn't know why we were there and spoke to other couples who couldn't fathom why they were there either - there was no common denominator. As you've now said, though, there never is. Frequently, I'd bet, it's the current whim of whomever is drawing up the list!

 

And while it's nice, I guess, to get the invitation, it did seem like we were shaking hands with the captain in one receiving line or another just about every day. It was getting to me, so I can't understand how the captain can put up with it! :rolleyes:

[2rg]

dakrewer, We We also have never understood why we were invited and had assumed it was paid for by our TA. Our first was before we were medal holders and we've been on several that we haven't been invited to after we got our medals. This party had the best food of the 2 previous.

[rkacruiser]

It usually includes travel agents, honeymooners, international guests (non US or Canadian) persons who have been deemed VIP by HAL head office for one reason or another, 100+ Mariners, and guests whose travel agent has purchased a VIP package for them. I know people are probably going to respond and say that they were on their honeymoon etc, and weren't invited, but it really varies from cruise to cruise depending on the info the ship has recieved from the head office.

 

sungoddess,

 

Many thanks for answering my question! I really do appreciate it.

 

Like dakrewser, I could never totally figure out how the guest list was put together. I thought the Home Office and one's status(the number of days sailed with HAL) in the Mariner Society had something to do with it, but was not sure.

 

I appreciate receiving the invitation to the Party and the opportunity to visit with some of the Officers. It has always been an extremely pleasant and informative experience!

[BS Cruisers]

we also have sailed on 03/30 your review was very good. we had a table for 12 at the first seating lower level and two guest only showed up one night. we meet other cc people in the crows nest on thursday. had a great time . we are in our early 40's not like 90% of fellow pax still had a great time. FLAMING COFFEE YUM YUM. Brian