Is the Volendam crowded?

[islandwoman]

I am currently on the Koningsdam.  I was unpleasantly surprised to find it crowded (like Carnival)  Anytime dining usually requires waiting or a reservation and when you get into the dining room, it's noisy and frantic with slow service.  It is difficult or impossible to find a seat at the pool deck, in the Lido, or at the World Stage.  At lunch times, it's difficult to make yourself understood to the servers behind the food counters, probably because of the noise. 

I am booked on the Volendam for a 42 day cruise in November.  Should I expect to find the same crowding on that ship? 

[amandas friend]

Following 

[SLC1954]

I was on the Koningsdam 30 March-5 April 2024 and the MDR for dinner at 5:30 it was extremely chaotic and the crew that first greeted you to ask your cabin number was not very friendly.  It was the most inefficient dining experience I have ever had.

Prior to that cruise I had been on the Zaandam (sister to Volendam) and the MDR experience was the complete opposite.  I will be on the Volendam for 2 weeks in July and so look forward to that cruise.

 I feel you will enjoy your Volendam cruise. The only thing I miss is the Grand Dutch Cafe, but I would rather be on the “small” ship anytime.

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

"Crowded" is a purely personal and subjective position. 

 

Just got off the Zaandam (sister to Volendam) 14 day Eclipse sailing. It was filled to the gills. Only a couple of times did we feel crowded. 

[cbr663]

Carnival Corp and I believe every other cruise lines are reporting that bookings are up and ships are sailing at more than 100% capacity.  No one can predict what capacity will be for your cruise in Nov, yet there is little reason to believe that it should be any different.  Added to the over capacity challenge is if you follow any live threads you will see that for the most part HAL's ships are sailing with less crew.  Less crew can mean less than ideal service and longer waits onboard.

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, SLC1954 said:

 

 I feel you will enjoy your Volendam cruise. The only thing I miss is the Grand Dutch Cafe, but I would rather be on the “small” ship anytime.

 

 

We haven't tried the smallest ships yet.  I'll be looking for a good itinerary.  I may be in a minority, but I can easily do without the Grand Dutch Cafe.  

[Bostonjetset]

I’m thinking it’s something with that ship haha. Our MDR service on K’dam last August was pretty poor as well. Certainly below average and not up to usual HAL standards. They were clearly understaffed. Even my last cruise on Carnival Pride had better service in the dining room. I was shocked. 
 

I actually really loved other aspects of the K’dam. It was just the MDR service that left something to be desired. 

Edited April 15 by Bostonjetset

[TiogaCruiser]

Is your cruise on of the many that were sold as “free 3rd and 4th guests sail free”?

[Loreto]

3 hours ago, islandwoman said:

I am currently on the Koningsdam.  I was unpleasantly surprised to find it crowded (like Carnival)  Anytime dining usually requires waiting or a reservation and when you get into the dining room, it's noisy and frantic with slow service.  It is difficult or impossible to find a seat at the pool deck, in the Lido, or at the World Stage.  At lunch times, it's difficult to make yourself understood to the servers behind the food counters, probably because of the noise. 

I am booked on the Volendam for a 42 day cruise in November.  Should I expect to find the same crowding on that ship? 

Hi islandwoman!  I am with you on the 42 day in November🙂.  My past Koningsdam experiences have been terrible.  Acoustics in the MDR are awful and we never went there on a coastal cruise (which resembled Carnival.)  The only thing we like is Gelato and Grand Dutch Cafe.  We ate most meals in specialty restaurants.

Like Cruiser Bruce We are just off the sister ship, Zaandam, which was sold out.  I never felt crowded anywhere, and marveled at how many times we got in an elevator and were the ONLY ones!  I have sailed the Volendam a number of times and it never felt crowded.  You will love the Volendam!

Karen

[HappyInVan]

3 hours ago, islandwoman said:

I am currently on the Koningsdam.  I was unpleasantly surprised to find it crowded (like Carnival)...

 

+1

 

I sailed K (Alaska) and Statendam (TA) last year. Nasty experience. Just sailed on MSC Meraviglia. Not as bad as I feared. In fact, not bad at all. I would rather sail on the Meraviglia with Aurea package (equivalent to Club Orange) than HAL's Pinnacle ships with Club Orange.

 

Also, I sailed on Volendam (Alaska) and Noordam (California coastal) last year. Much nicer experience than on the K.

[jlawrence01]

I have been on Konigsdam and Eurodam in the past eighteen months.  I did not find either one of them crowded even though they were both nearly full.  I will say that we avoid the MDR on the first day of any HAL cruise as it can be frustrating as everyone gets down to the MDR as it first opens.  It seems that after the first day, the crowd at opening thins out.

[julia]

We did the K'dam 35 night SoPac last year, and felt there were areas that were often crowded and noisy.  We gave up on dinners in the MDR (after a few attempts and long waits) but did try it for some breakfasts & lunches.  Service was hit or miss. The Lido hours were too short in the evening, so we needed to plan ahead.  Port talks and shows were way overcrowded.  Obnoxious canned music played in every venue... even at 7am in the Lido. We enjoyed our trip, our cabin, and the crew, but not sure that we'd do this ship again.

[albingirl]

1 hour ago, HappyInVan said:

 

+1

 

I sailed K (Alaska) and Statendam (TA) last year. Nasty experience. Just sailed on MSC Meraviglia. Not as bad as I feared. In fact, not bad at all. I would rather sail on the Meraviglia with Aurea package (equivalent to Club Orange) than HAL's Pinnacle ships with Club Orange.

 

Also, I sailed on Volendam (Alaska) and Noordam (California coastal) last year. Much nicer experience than on the K.

It's really very hard for me to imagine a nasty experience on K and Statendam. Sorry, but that seems like a bit of a stretch.  It's nice you like the smaller ships, but the Pinnacle ships have their strong points, as well.

[islandwoman]

3 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Is your cruise on of the many that were sold as “free 3rd and 4th guests sail free”?

I don't remember. We booked a long time ago.

[islandwoman]

2 hours ago, julia said:

We did the K'dam 35 night SoPac last year, and felt there were areas that were often crowded and noisy.  We gave up on dinners in the MDR (after a few attempts and long waits) but did try it for some breakfasts & lunches.  Service was hit or miss. The Lido hours were too short in the evening, so we needed to plan ahead.  Port talks and shows were way overcrowded.  Obnoxious canned music played in every venue... even at 7am in the Lido. We enjoyed our trip, our cabin, and the crew, but not sure that we'd do this ship again.

Our experience, too. 

[islandwoman]

5 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

"Crowded" is a purely personal and subjective position. 

 

Just got off the Zaandam (sister to Volendam) 14 day Eclipse sailing. It was filled to the gills. Only a couple of times did we feel crowded. 

By "crowded", I mean too many passengers for the public spaces.  And I could add, too many passengers per crew.

 

Some ships can be "filled to the gills" and still not seem crowded if they have sufficient public spaces and crew.  Glad to hear about your positive experience on the Zaandam.

[Cruising Is Bliss]

You will not feel crowded. Volendam (and her R-class sister ship Zaandam) have the most common space per passenger of any HAL ships. I was on Zaandam for a 15 day fully booked cruise with 9 sea days and it was fine, no crowding problems at all.

[HappyInVan]

3 hours ago, albingirl said:

It's really very hard for me to imagine a nasty experience on K and Statendam. Sorry, but that seems like a bit of a stretch.  It's nice you like the smaller ships, but the Pinnacle ships have their strong points, as well.

 

The Pinnacle ships have good design features. Unfortunately, my actual experiences were unfortunate.

 

On the K, liquid scrambled eggs were served for several days on two consecutive cruises. Never again. I breakfast early in the morning. Sometimes, there's no waiter. The pax get their own beverages. After a while, the waiters who are there don't bother to offer beverages. 

 

On the Statendam cruise, the ship had just finished dry dock, and the crew should have been fresh. But, the Dive-In only offered pre-cooked hotdogs at the opening hour. Take it or leave it.

 

I had CO, and tried to dine in that restaurant. I gave up after 2 meals because the hostess was so abusive. For the rest of the cruise, the restaurant was half filled at best. I saw the Hotel GM Mustafa Gulbahar standing in the restaurant and gesturing angrily at the empty tables.

 

Don't get me started on the Pinnacle elevators (enough on the Noordam class). The list goes on and on. 

 

I have only one cruise with HAL this year to complete 4-star Mariner. Its on the NA (never sailed this class). My cabin is a partial OV with the long window. That's all I'm willing to pay HAL. Then, its done.

 

IMHO, HAL has been unable to maintain higher prices. The ships are understaff. With the additional crowding from low low fares, and free 3rd and 4th pax, it won't get better.

 

 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

6 hours ago, Kay S said:

We haven't tried the smallest ships yet.  I'll be looking for a good itinerary.  I may be in a minority, but I can easily do without the Grand Dutch Cafe.  

Have you tried the small pancakes.

[TiogaCruiser]

2 hours ago, islandwoman said:

I don't remember. We booked a long time ago.

Just recently HAL began offering many cruises with this “special”. Kingkongdam had many- also lots of Alaskas. So it’s likely/possible yours was one of them. Having purchased so long ago there wouldn’t be a reason to see the recent ads.

[TiogaCruiser]

It looks like your Volendam cruise is not on that special. Is this it?

 

 

[TiogaCruiser]

It looks like your current cruise DID get sold as 3rd and 4th sail free.

 

 

[HappyInVan]

Guys,

 

Looks like HAL is offering 3/4 free on almost all of its last minute deals...

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/ca/find-a-cruise?dealId=TOPTEN23&csvFileName=multi_TOPTEN23_1.csv&ICID=INTHWEB20240124Q89QXAW4NL

 

7 out of 10 are "Free Guests 3 and 4". All ship classes. The only exceptions are the two Denali itineraries, and the 7D Iceland/Scotland cruise which has sold well. 

[Kay S]

2 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

Have you tried the small pancakes.

Nope.  Not small ships.  Not small pancakes.  🙂 I'm not much of a pastry/cakes person.

 

 

 

[islandwoman]

2 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

It looks like your Volendam cruise is not on that special. Is this it?

 

Yes.