concerned about the Volendam

[ehogan]

We are leaving on the Volendam for a 14 day on Sunday - but I am concerned now (not that I can do much about it) after reading two very negative reviews in the member reviews section.

 

Help -- any Volendam veterans? What was your experience?

 

We are pretty easy to please and have been on many cruises, but I am worried about SIL and BIL because we talked them into this cruise since they have not cruised following a bad experience with sea sickness many, many years ago (early '80s)

[GeezLouise1]

My husband and I sailed from Ft. Lauderdale on a 10 day cruise in January 2008. We visited a few ports in the Caribbean and passed through the first locks at Panama. We found the ship to be beautifully maintained and the staff professional and efficient. Every detail was tended to with grace although we were sailing under a code red. At the end of the first 5 days, the code was lifted, lifting a real work burden from the staff. The maintenance was great, dining was terrific and the captain reacted to the onboard infection with humour and professionalism. We had such a great time, we've booked an 18 day crossing for next March. The ship spent time in Victoria in April for a "spruce up". I guess they're improving upon perfection. A trip to the pharmacist might be in order to find meds. for sea sickness. Have a wonderful trip, enjoy your holiday.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have sailed several times on the Volendam. Really like that size of a ship.

 

Before any of you buy medications for sea sickness, make certain of the prescriptions anyone is taking and check with your doctors.

[whogo]

I would not weight the bad reviews too heavily. tlwilderis rants because her room was not cleaned properly once; the bow thrusters woke her up, and the entertainment repeated on her 14 day cruise. It could happen on any cruise line. Thrusters making noise while docking should be no surprise.

 

Reviewer 2, Charlee admits she is a pessimist. The things she had to complain about! "the pastries were cloyingly sweet and the meat was not trimmed of fat." Poor dear had to trim her own meat! She and her son are the only cruisers that get better food at home.

 

Her recent high school grad was poorly entertained. I will admit that age is poorly catered to by cruise ships; too old for the kid club, too young for the bars. Are you taking an 18 year old?

[takemewithyou]

"We are leaving on the Volendam for a 14 day on Sunday - but I am concerned now (not that I can do much about it) after reading two very negative reviews in the member reviews section."

 

I went over to read the reviews. If you look, every ship. every line, has a few bad reviews. I try to read them critically and take them with a grain of salt.

 

One complained because the thrusters woke her up when the ship was arriving in port. Has that happened to me? Yes, when we had a cabin in the aft. Did I care? No. We actually got used to it and called it our morning wake-up call. After awhile it is no big deal. Hello......You are on a SHIP, not on land! We have actually booked another cabin in the aft for the next cruise. The benefits outweigh the morning wake-up when the thrusters come on.

 

The other travelled with a teenage son and both the mother and son agreed there was nothing to do and they were bored. I have never been bored on a ship. Maybe if I were 18, I would be. There are probably much better cruise lines to take if you have teenagers. She also complained about the food. That's subjective. We liked the food and the service on the Volendam.

 

We spent 15 days on her 10/07 going from San Diego to FLL thru the Panama Canal. We loved it. It was the favorite of our 3 HAL cruises. Relax and enjoy. I think you will like it. It's a beautiful ship, elegantly decorated with a flower theme. There were fresh flowers everywhere.

 

Have a great trip! :)

[leoandhugh]

not being a cheerleader for HAL or any other cruise line in particular, I have learned that when you read negative reviews like the ones cited here, you have to look at the details Really - untrimmed meat!!! Cloyingly sweet pastries!!! noise from bow thrusters!!! I mean how trivial can it get. I would certainly not worry about taking a cruise on any ship when the most negative posts are something of this nature:(

[Robin7]

We loved the Volendam! We took the 10-day partial Panama Canal trip last fall. We are boarding her again for a 14-day New Zealand/Australia itinerary this fall.

 

I read those reviews the other day. Whiners! Really. Very petty stuff, IMO.

 

We did have two issues last fall that impacted our enjoyment (poor a/c and a neighbor whose smoke came into our stateroom) but that can (and has) happened to us on any cruise ship on any line. Ship happens! We've missed ports (Regal Princess, Westerdam), been ill (Star Princess), been too hot (Nieuw Amsterdam), had a very drunk man practically stick his head in my cleavage (Zuiderdam), and on and on. Yet we've NEVER had a bad cruise. It's all in how you react.

 

Have a great cruise and let me know how 'my' ship is doing!

 

Robin

[ehogan]

Thank you all so much - I knew you would cheer me up.

 

If it was just myself and DH, I wouldn't have been concerned but you always want others in your party to have a good time.

 

And, no - we aren't taking an 18 year old and would never have on an HAL cruise - there are more suitable ships. We took our 20, 18 and 16 year olds on a PNW cruise on Princess (10 years ago) and they had a blast. Before we went, however, we definately let them know that this was a big privilege and they were to act accordingly and be accordingly appreciative. They did and were, and have subsequently cruised with appreciation.

 

Thanks for putting my paranoia to rest!

[doone]

I have sailed the Volendam 3 times and she still remains my favorite of the HAL fleet. I am sure you will find her to be a spectacular ship.

[CoconutFish]

We sailed on July 27, 14 days Alaska.

 

A virtually problem-free cruise.

 

Service was excellent, from both room steward and dining room servers. Wine steward was satisfactory (which is usually as good as it gets).

 

Food in the Dining Room was pretty much as good as on a Grand Voyage.

 

Itinerary was spectacular, northbound not out in open ocean, but winding through the narrows, which afforded the best whale sightings ever.

 

Captain Pieter Visser was impressive, willing to talk to passengers at the VIP parties and staying much longer than the Hotel Manager and Cruise Director. He also gave a few announcements, clear and informative.

 

The Volendam was clean, in good repair. The atmosphere was one of a happy ship, with gracious, sincere service from virtually every member of the crew, staff and officers.

 

We really could not ask for better.

Have a great cruise!

[hammybee]

Reviews, good, bad or otherwise, say more about the reviewer than the experience.

[Jaberwocky]

We did the Northbound Alaskan cruise on the Volendam the week of July 13, and we had a wonderful time. The staff was wonderful on the entire ship, and the ship itself was in great condition. We loved the size of the ship - not so huge, but still plenty of nooks and places to get lost if you wish.

One of the couples with us had never cruised, and they loved the entire experience. We found most of the food to be very good, and if you didn't like it in one place, there were plenty of other places to grab a bite. Actually, we loved the hamburgers up on the Lido deck, so maybe we are too easy to please.

Do not worry about the Volendam - it's a great ship and I would go again in a minute, with no hesitation at all. If you are going to Alaska, you are in for a breathtaking trip. Enjoy!

[tamsno]

I too had a wonderful 10-day Caribean and Panama Canal Volendam experience in April. The ship, staff and crew were excellent and the shows were actually some of the most enjoyable I have seen on 9 HAL cruises. It was quite rough for a couple of days, and the bridge and engineering combined to hold the ship in position all day so we could tender to Half Moom Cay which we found out later was quite exceptional. Have a great cruise.

Cindy

[takemewithyou]

The Volendam has one of the most beautiful show lounges I have ever seen.

[CC Help Michell]

Wow. I hadn't gone back lately to see more recent reviews of the Volendam since I submitted mine, and I'm pretty dumbfounded. Not so much by the one from tlwilderis, who didn't have anything of substance to say in their 1000 word or so submission, except for saying they found the staff "resentful," which not only was belied by our personal experience on this same ship, but by the vast majority of HAL reviews -- when everything else about a cruise is falling apart, the service on HAL shines. How this person missed that is beyond me.

 

The second review is the lengthy, scathing review by Charlee. Things we loved most about our Alaskan cruise were things she just slams -- we thought Haines was the most beautiful, unspoiled, "authentic" port on our trip. She says "there was nothing to do," and says that Fort Seward "is not a fort." I'm not sure if she was expecting a blanket thrown over a giant dining room table, like the forts we make when we are six years old, but what I saw in Haines reminded me very much of every Army post I lived on while growing up as a brat, and I thought it was great. We also had a great time driving our rental into the Yukon, and visiting a wildlife refuge -- I guess she didn't bother doing any research into what she could do in Haines. The reviewer also didn't enjoy Randall in the Piano Bar -- but for us his "Name that Tune" games were a real highlight of our cruise. Apparently she only went there once, for a singalong night (that was also not our favorite), and didn't play any of the fun games, etc. on other nights. The competition nights were just a blast, with songs from different eras giving everyone a chance to shine.

 

Her description of the ship as a "floating nursing home" is quite offensive in my view -- apparently she thinks being old makes one worthless, and facilities friendly to older people are likewise worthless in her eyes. :rolleyes: We are in our 40's and found plenty to do on the Volendam. We also made friends with a couple of teens who had just graduated from high school, and they both said this ship wasn't their first choice, but that they were traveling with relatives and had found it surprisingly enjoyable. Last, Charlee's terse and bland description of Glacier Bay makes me think that this entire review was written by someone trying to hone their "sarcastic/humorous" writing skills, and not by anyone with any actual interest in Alaska's history, geography, glaciers, residents, etc.

 

To the OP, please do also remember that not everyone submits their reviews to the Member Reviews section. Often folks post here on the HAL boards, or on the Alaskan Ports of Call board. That takes a bit more fortitude than posting some anonymous slam on Member Reviews, where there's no possibility of dialogue or discussion, since here people might post responses to some of the over-the-top statements that have you concerned. Here on the boards this summer I haven't seen any Volendam reviews anywhere near as negative as the ones these two people posted in the Member Review board. Our trip on her wasn't perfect, but it certainly was a wonderful visit to Alaska, and the 14 day duration was just great, in our opinion -- it was so relaxing to have about half and half sea days and port days, and the chance to sleep and nap on HAL's amazing beds.

 

Go take your cruise, have a wonderful time, and then come back and re-read those two reviews. I suspect that you'll be just as dumbfounded as I was, finding virtually nothing in common with your own experience.

[mains_dream]

We will be on the same cruise and was a little worried after reading the last couple of reviews too. I am going with the thought that I am going to truly relax. Anything in addition will be a bonus.

 

I could barely sleep last night....don't know how I'm going to fair for the next 2 sleeps!

 

I am sure Cruize Liz has invited you before, but Please join us Monday morning at 10:30 at the Crow's Nest. We are having a meet and greet. Bring your friends along too. The more the merrier. If you want to email me in the morning, I'd love to have name tags ready for the 4 of you.

 

Hope to see you there!

 

Dianne

mains_dream@yahoo.com

[papadave]

We're recently returned from a 14 day back to back trip to Alasaka, August 10-24th. My complaints are few and very minor. I would have no issue returning to this ship on the same itinterary.

 

The food was better northbound than southbound -- largely because HAL brings its food onto the ship in Vancouver and was running out of some items toward the end of the cruise. The entertainment was not on par with Broadway or London. No big deal, just skip it.

 

I had some great food. They carry Alaskan beer on board. The gym is in great shape. The captain takes his time in Glacier Bay and College Fjord. Our waiter was a gift to us. The piano bar was lots of fun. The ship was generally in very good shape. If there was a problem (like a toilet which didn't flush for 20 minutes) a call to the front desk resulted in prompt and serious attention from both the front desk and a plumber.

 

Is there room for improvement? Of course. Does it have any impact on an excellent cruise? Not for my family.

[aliaschief]

Sailed on the MS Volendam last summer and we had an outstanding cruise. We would sail on her in a heartbeat. Enjoy your cruise.