Our first cruise, Volendam July 2-9, Inside Passage

[madera1]

Thank you for sharing your first cruising experience. It sounds like you had an overall good time. Your photos will be a great reminder of the trip. Sorry to hear about the loss of your cat.

[LVSue]

I may be nuts, but it seems to me that on the Amsterdam in May, creme brûlée was on the MDR menu every night. And you can order room service from the MDR menu any time during dinner hours. Keep in mind that I am relying on my very feeble memory.

[CowPrincess]

I'm so sorry about your kitty.

 

Thank you for the report!

[Jim Avery]

Where did the cruise depart from? Do you know if you sailed Hecate Strait (a day almost always out of sight of land) or Grenville Channel and the B.C. Canada portion of the Inside Passage?

[Himself]

The Ship

 

We were very happy with our choice of the Volendam and would sail with her again. We LOVED the promenade deck and walked daily. I have a Fitbit and we averaged 15,000 steps a day. We only took the elevators a couple of times.

 

 

 

We only participated in a couple of activities so can't comment on those. Most of the time we were in bed by 9:00.

 

 

The ship only occasionally felt crowded, but it was always possible to find something quieter. The pool area was well used and there were dozens of kids on the ship. We didn't feel like the crowd was overly old and we would say we were average for demographic.

 

Other

We had rolling swells the first day, enough that both DH and I went to front desk to get Bonine. It was a popular item but really knocked us out. Other more experienced travelers said they were also feeling it. I think that might be a reason we would choose land over sea, we didn't like losing a day that way and DH thinks it was part of why he wasn't so keen on Tracy Arm, he was still a little drugged up.

 

We went to the Spa the first day and took the complementary tour with the free chance to enter up to $500 of services. You had to be there for the draw and then it turned out that before the draw we had to listen to sales pitches. That was our first experience with the sales pressure that seemed somewhat prevalent on the ship. DH went to a "How to Boost your Metabolism" talk and it was a "we can tell you so much more if you only sign up for these one of two services". We learned and if we didn't from like being pressured, and weren't sure of the subject, we didn't go. No harm done.

 

Our pleasant surprise

We allowed the photographers to take our picture whenever they wanted. We both normally hate our photos being taken. Much to my surprise, we loved the photos and ended up buying several of them. We started off with $400 of OBC and a significant chunk went to that. No regrets there.

 

Our essential packed items

Binoculars and a camera were number one and two. I bought a waterproof Nikon AW110 for the trip and it was really perfect for me. No worries about water and it took great photos.

 

Prices are quite reasonable for outerwear on the ship, so if you need anything like gloves, hats, and coats, you'll be fine for waiting.

 

 

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

 

Too bad you felt the Swells. Your Captain probaby kept you out on the High Seas. I am currently on the Oosterdam and the Captian oveer here kept us inside for most of the journey.S hsip can go back inside Notrh of Victoria Island and can stay inside almost all the way tol prince Rupert.

[Watson's aunt]

Hi

 

Thanks for your review. Sorry about your beloved kitty. I was on Amsterdam around same time as you. Did you have a lot of ice in Tracay arm? I had a lot of ice.

 

My cruise June 22-july6

 

 

Mary