R/T Alaskan Cruise on Volendam from 8/23/17 to 8/30/17

Hi everyone. This is my first review of a cruise and first off want to thank all the other posters whose information was so helpful in planning this wonderful cruise to Alaska. I am not an experienced cruiser...let me be clear with that. Because Galveston is so close to my home I've gone on 4 Carnival cruises which I've enjoyed but ready to experience other cruise lines and destinations.

A little about us, I'm mid 50's and my DP (Dear Partner) is 40. We have enjoyed our cruises out of Galveston and have no problem with the Carnival product. The ships are clean, food and entertainment are pretty good and the service very friendly. The only issue for me is the party atmosphere and crowded venues. Again I'm grateful for the wonderful posters on this forum and reading your reviews and opinions helped us so much in every aspect of planning for this cruise. And finally, these comments are my opinion and I'm not trying to get people upset or all wound up. Here goes.

Started planning for this cruise in 2016 and after lots of research, decided that a ship that took the Inside Passage and visited Glacier Bay were most important to me. Holland America Volendam had the right itinerary and schedule plus HA has a great reputation for cruising to Alaska. Based on what I heard ( i know, the two worst words in the English language are "I heard") I was expecting an older crowd and limited entertainment options on the ship. I'll get to that later.

Vancouver

Got great airfare on Alaska Airlines and flew to Vancouver on Sunday 8/20. I love trying to get the best fare possible but RT from Houston to Vancouver on United was $650. I got Alaska to Vancouver from Houston for $420. Unfortunately the return was from Seattle. The price from Vancouver was very expensive so decided to take HA transfer bus to Seattle after the cruise. Plus a hotel so might have broken even. Next time, I'll just fly non stop. Note, this was during the Hurricane Harvey flood disaster in Houston so wouldn't have been able to fly home Wednesday anyway. It was heartbreaking to be away from home during this disaster. I'll cover that later. First trip to Vancouver and very excited about spending time there. A couple we know (from Vancouver) were going to be in town and we looked forward to touring with them. Had gotten a great deal online at the Hyatt Downtown for $149 a night. Wonderful hotel in a great location. Flight was ontime, arrived in Seattle and then on to Vancouver before 11 am local time. Our trip was off to a great start.

I can't recommend Vancouver enough as a place to visit. It's beautiful and there is a lot to do. On Sunday we ate a very authentic Chinese lunch at Neptune Restaurant, went to Queen Elizabeth Garden, then drove to Grouse Mountain and took the tram to the top. It's expensive ($35 I think) but they will refund it if you eat at the restaurant which we did. There is a ton of stuff to do up there in the summer and it was very crowded. They have wonderful hiking, Grizzly Bears in a pen, wild bird show ( Bald Eagles, Hawks, Owls, etc) zip lining and much more. Had a blast. Then dinner at the Observatory was wonderful. Good food and incredible views of Vancouver. Day 2 started with experiencing the eclipse at the plaza in front of the Art Museum. Big crowd and many had brought the appropriate glasses and devices to view the eclipse. Very cool to see. Never got dark but fun experience. Took the free bus to the Capilano Suspension Bridge and it's in a beautiful area. Tons of people on the bridge and although I tried to cross it I chickened out and went back. It moves a lot and its really high in the air. Went to the fish hatchery after that which was cool. Took the bus back to town and spent the afternoon walking and seeing the sites. Again, really nice city. Met friends for dinner at the Teahouse restaurant in Stanley Park. Nice dinner and location. Day 3 we took the Hop On Hop Off bus (there are two companies with the same name) and had a great time seeing all of Vancouver. We ended up on both routes. Took a cab that evening to the Sandbar Restaurant at Granville Public Market. Granville is a great place but go before 6 as most shops close then. Sandbar was a typical touristy restaurant but was ok. Also know that Uber or Lyftr are not in Vancouver yet. Cabs are the only choice other than the bus....or your feet.

Enough pre cruise stuff......on to the cruise!!!

Your first post on Cruise Critic is a great beginning! I agree that Vancouver is a wonderful city - so much to see and do and such a glorious location. Looking forward to hearing more about your first (and hopefully not last?) HAL cruise. Prayers to all the people of Houston.

Fantastic star! Glad you enjoyed Vancouver: you covered all the bases very well with your travel guide!

Thanks for doing this thread!

More please! Leaving today for our cruise in Alaska.

Looking forward to more reports! Thanks for sharing.

Welcome to Cruise Critic! I agree, Vancouver is an amazing city. We did a precruise package there with HAL prior to our Volendam Cruise in July. We had a great experience, I will be eager to hear the rest of your review!

Prayers for the people in Houston and surrounding communities.

Karen

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Great start.

Looking forward to more.

Thanks for the comments. I live right outside Houston and the impact of Harvey is beyond horrific. Most people in the area are fine, but those impacted are suffering a great deal and the flooding and rescues continue today. An absolute nightmare. 40 inches of rain fell over the area over 3 days. Unbelievable.

Equipment

DP was ready to hit REI to plan for an expedition to the Artic. Whoa there! Understand you're going to an area that will have temperatures ranging from the 40's to the high 60's. Rain is certainly a possibility so we started planning early to make sure we were prepared.

Bring light, breathable layers to dress in. You'll be taking layers off and putting them back on to stay comfortable. It could be 68 in Ketchikan if the sun comes out, or 45 in Glacier Bay with rain. Make sure you have a nice breathable rain coat.

Bring a waterproof backpack to keep all the crap that you'll bring nice and dry. Waterproof shoes are nice too because who likes wet feet. Thin gloves and a hat are nice to have to.

If you have a good camera....bring it. The scenery is magnificent and you'll be glad you did. Bring shoes with good traction. Don't go on the deck at the bow in Glacier Bay in dress shoes! I saw two elderly gentlemen slip and fall heavily because that deck was very slick. Bring a good pair of binoculars, I researched and bought a Celestron 71332 Nature Rx on Amazon and they performed really well. Waterproof also. Makes for quite a load to pack and carry but we were glad we prepared.

Embarkation

Great feeling to wake up on embarkation day. The Hyatt is a quick cab ride to Canada Place and the whole embarkation process was fast and efficient. Porters take your bags where the cab drops you off and the path you follow to immigration and check in are well marked. I'm Global Entry so had a shorter line and it was fast. Through that room and off to check in. Maybe a 10 minutes wait in line, checked in, got the cards and off we went. Yay!

The Ship

Still a pretty big ship but considerable smaller than the Carnival ships I've been on. We went to the room to check it out then off to explore the ship and get lunch. We got to Canada Place around 11:15 and was on the ship by noon. So far so good. Volendam is an older ship and looked a little outdated to me. Very clean though and well maintained. I was super impressed by the art throughout the ship. It's like an art museum at sea and some of it is pretty different for sure. Started on Deck 8, Lido Deck, which has the buffet, two pool areas, the gym, spa, dine in cafe and a couple of bars. I liked how the middle pool had the retractable roof, on Carnival ships its the back pool. Down to Deck 5 where (from the back of the boat) you find the second floor of the Rotterdam dining room. The Library is there with a Coffee Bar, a sitting area that will be a Lincoln Center Stage after the November dry dock. Moving forward you have the Mix bar, the Casino, the shops the Ocean Bar and the top floor of the Performance Hall. The name is changing to Mainstage after dry dock. Level 4 has the main floor of the Rotterdam Dining Room (cut off of course from the rest of Deck 4), Pinnacle Grill, Culinary Arts Theater, Art shops, Guest Services and the Mainstage Hall.

Room

Did a lot of research on picking the room and our TA commented that the H rooms on the Lower Promenade deck (3) were very popular. You get a window that looks out on the Promenade which wraps all around the ship. The room rate is the same as an inside so they go fast and are popular. Sounded good to me. Stayed in H3378 on the port side just toward the back from midship. The room looked older but clean...typical cruise ship room. Met James our steward right away and prepared the room to our liking. James was awesome and did a great job all week. He and his helper were fast and worked hard and our room was always clean. Now on the deck plans the area above our room was blank. I guessed it was the galley given where it was on the ship. Well, they get up pretty early on that ship to start preparing food. Like 4 am early and it would wake me up. DP could sleep through a marching band coming through the room but I'm a lighter sleeper. Some mornings it sounded like they were bowling above us, some just dragging things around. Heard a vacuum cleaner one morning. I was able to go back to sleep but be aware that there will be noise above you early in the morning. And because there are always walkers on the promenade, we kept the drapes shut most of the time. I would rather be on Deck 1 or 2 with a traditional view out of the window.

Food

Ate at the buffet mostly in the morning and the quality of the food was ok...what I expected from the buffet. It was crowded though and hard to find a seat. Lunch was either in the MDR or buffet on sea days. It was ok...nothing special. Here is an area where Carnival shines...the Sea Day Brunch. On sea days, the MDR is open from 8:30 to 1:00 with full breakfast menu and brunch items. Genius and I missed it on HAL. Moving on to dinner......ah dinner. We had originally signed up for early dining at 5:15. We changed our mind and called guest services to change to anytime dining when we got on board. No problem right? Not exactly.

First night we show up to the MDR at 7 pm and say "table for 2". The Maitre' D looks at my card, punches keys on the computer and says "You were supposed to be here at 5:15". Glaring at me. I say, "I called and changed it". He says in a very loud haughty tone "Only I can make that change" . Ok, could you please make that change. He rips off the receipt, hands it to the guy who seats the guests and off we went.

Second night we show up at 7:00. Same Maitre' D says, "You were supposed to be here at 5:15" . Replay of night one, same results except he puts a green sticker on our card.

Third night we show up at 7:00. Same Maitre' D says the same thing. You've got to be kidding me. He makes a scene and we get seated.

Our experience in the MDR was not good. From the Maitre'D to the waiters to the servers I found them to be very dour bordering on rude. All of them. Service was slow and didn't see a smile or any warmth from any of the wait staff. The food once it came was ok, nothing special. On Volendam, we noticed the wait staff were all Indonesians and the bar staff were all Filipino. DP is Filipino and spoke to many of the bar and wine staff who waited on us in Tagalog. Apparantely there is a real problem on Volendam that will be addressed soon. Outside the MDR I found the staff of the ship to be very nice. And to be fair, in the MDR the waitstaff were friendlier to people who I assume are Mariner class and travel on HAL ships regularly. After 3 nights, I was done with the MDR.

So for the other 4 nights we spent 2 in the Pinnacle Dining Room and 2 in Caneletto. The Pinnacle Grill was outstanding and well worth the $35 upcharge. Food and service were really good and count me (and DP) as fans. Caneletto is on Deck 8 and a part of the buffet during breakfast and lunch. They close it off for dinner and the food and service again were excellent. Well worth the $15 upcharge. For me, Carnival has a much better experience in the MDR. The Rotterdam dining room is a beautiful space don't get me wrong. And I prefer it to the Farcus mish mosh that you find on Carnival. The employees are so much nicer on Carnival though. Carnival wins again on breadth of menu offerings although the portions are larger on HAL. Specialty dining HAL wins hands down. No contest. I'll give a slight edge to HAL in the buffet for food, and a big advantage in the atmosphere (I'm trying to be nice but it's pandemonium on Carnival in the buffet).

I am enjoying your report, as we sail next year on the exact trip. Yes, those dreaded white spaces. I learned about that here on Cruise Critic.

I am going with open dining. Did you sit at a two top? Other than your situation, did you have to wait long for a table in the MDR?

Sounds like the guy was having a bad day (3 days in a row). He was probably thinking, "Oh crap, I forgot to fix this, well I will play dumb". Lol

Enjoying your reports.

We are long time Mariners -- nearly 1200 days and we gave up eating in the dining room years ago -- too slow service and we haven't found the food to be to our liking no matter which ship we were on. As a result we eat dinner in the Pinnacle and at the Tamarind on ships that have that specialty restaurant.

On to the cruise!

Sail away was 4:30 and it was nice to watch the skyline of Vancouver and the mountains all around as we slowly sailed toward the Lions Gate Bridge. Really cool to go under that bridge but you should know that the captain blows the horn as we approach and those of us on the outside deck weren't expecting that!

An interesting thing happened, we were 15 minutes past the bridge when the ship stopped completely. After 15 minutes it very slowly started sailing in circles making two complete revolutions then stopped again. No explanation ever came and after 45 minutes to an hour we started on our way again. Was the captain calibrating something? Who knows. That evening we went to the show in the performance hall and it was singing and dancing with a live band. After we went to the Crow's Nest for a nightcap. I really liked the Crow's Nest and there was something going on each night.

Day 2 Sea Day

Typical sea day for me. Up early and worked out. The gym was nice I thought and the equipment reasonably new. They had a lot of classes and events that people could sign up for everyday and a yoga class was ongoing when I was there. I normally just like to relax on sea days but wanted to explore the ship and see what HAL had to offer.

After DP was up we ate an early lunch in the Lido then went to the America's Test Kitchen. Volendam has a nice setup for this which doubles as the Movie Theater. I enjoyed the session which was about cooking salmon and appreciated the nice recipe and information sheets to take home. We then played bingo (lost as usual) and did a Wine Tasting in the MDR which I enjoyed also. I should note that there were large tour groups from Australia on board this cruise. Made the wine tasting fun as some of the wines were from Australia or NZ.

Most people were just relaxing around the ship and the library was pretty full all the time. Lots of people reading or just enjoying the view. I think I've covered dinner enough....it was Gala Night in the MDR and most people seemed to dress up. We wore suits and I saw a few tuxedo's in the crowd.

Day 3 Tracy Arm and Juneau

Our schedule for today showed Tracy Arm at 10:00 and Juneau at 1:00 pm with all aboard at 9:30 pm. I thought we would sail into Tracy Arm to see the glacier there. I was puzzled as the schedule showed us there for only 30 minutes and soon found out why. We stopped in the opening of the fiord and people who had bought an excursion transferred to a smaller boat for the cruise to the glacier. They would join us in Juneau later. Mystery solved. We pulled into Juneau early and by 12:45 they announced the gangway was set and we could leave. Reading previous threads on Juneau and Alaska we had chosen Harv and Marv's Whale Watching. I made the reservations a month before the cruise. The main reason I chose them was the smaller boat concept and the wonderful reviews. They were there on time at 1:15 and we were on the way to their dock by 1:20. We stopped at the bridge to take pictures of the Mendenhall glacier which was nice but it was pretty far away. We got to Auke Bay and the marina by 2:00 and met the other two people scheduled on our boat. We had 5 total (one other from our ship) and they used a bigger boat because the weather wasn't very good. Windy, rainy and about 52 degrees. Captain Brent was wonderful and Juliana, his helper, was terrific too. Spent 3.5 hours and saw 10 whales, an island of Steller seals, and beautiful scenery (when it stopped raining). Saw a whale jump completely out of the water, what a thrill. I recommend them highly and really had a great day. Back to the dock by 5:30 and on the ship by 6:15. We thought about taking a bus to the glacier but I was pretty tired from the day. The waterproof gear we bought worked beautifully and everything stayed dry.

Day 4 Skagway

Pulled into Skagway early and was docked by 7:00 am. Not sure of the dock name but it is right by a mountain. They were about to disembark when we heard a pretty big rumble. The captain came on the speaker and said there had been a landslide which sent rocks across the dock. Actually there were 3 landslides. He conferred with the port authorities and the Island Princess captain (who had docked behind us) and decided to move the ships to the other docks. Good decision! By the time we moved and got everything into place it was 9:00 before we were able to disembark. You can imagine what that did to everyone's excursion planning. After a lot of research, I selected Chilkoot Charters and the Yukon Rail and Bus tour. We were supposed to leave at 8:30 but didn't get out of port until 10:00. On a bus with 23 other passengers and Mike Gaido was our driver. They scrambled to reschedule the bus and train and we were off. Mike is a student of the Gold Rush and clearly has studied it extensively. He even did his own experience by hiking the Chilkoot Trail to Bennet Lake from Skagway and canoeing to Dawson City. He was full of stories on the drive to the Yukon and although time was tight managed to stop for pictures along the way. The weather was terrible on the drive up to White Pass but the clouds cleared and it warmed up once we were into Canada. The scenery was magnificant. I think we took 1,000 pictures on this drive. We got the obligitory pictures by the Welcome to the Yukon sign, saw Dahl Mountain Goats marveled at the landscape and pulled into Carcross at 12:45. We stopped at Caribou Crossing Trading Post for lunch which was pretty good (provided as part of the ticket price). This "Trading Post" is a little hokey but had a very cool musueum of stuffed animals. Because of time constraints we were not able to continue to Emerald Lake which was disapointing but to coordinate all the busses and trains we had to head back. Got on the train in Fraser, BC and started back to Skagway. The train ride was unbelievable and the views are incredible. Worth every penny. Mike was there to pick us up at the train station and dropped us off in town for a little shopping before getting back on the ship. Sail away was 9:00 pm.

Day 5 Glacier Bay

The highlight of the trip for me was Glacier Bay. We picked up park rangers at the entrance to the park along with Alaska Geographic Society and First Nation members. The trip up the bay was narrated by Rangers, the Geographic Society and First Nation members set up shop in the Crow's Nest along with the Naturalists onboard. It was cloudy and foggy all day and Volendam was the only ship in the park. It was surreal sailing up the bay to the first glaciers. Most people were on deck as we approached the Lamplugh Glacier. Magnifient. As we sailed to view the Johns Hopkins glacier, the captain noticed bears on the beach and the ship stopped. The park ranger said shhhhhhh! Everyone got very quiet as the ship drifted closer and closer to shore. The bears were hard to spot at first, even though they are quite large at that distance they looked like ants. As we got closer they were easy to see and it was really cool to see them walk around the beach and rocks looking for food. Good binoculars were really helpful. After 30 minutes of that, we sailed on to the Marjorie and Grand Pacific glacier. The ship stayed by them for an hour and it was just remarkable. Big thrill for me. I spent a lot of time with the HAL naturalist on the bow deck and enjoyed that too. What a great job he has...something I'll think about after I retire.

Day 6 Ketchikan

Ship arrived at 10:00 am and we were off soon after. We had schedule our only HAL excursion this day, the Aleutian Ballad Crab Boat Adventure. It didn't start until 1:15 so took off on a walking tour of the city. Followed the map guide along the Ketchikan river to the Totem Pole Heritage Center. Very nice walk and enjoyed stopping and watching a lot of salmon working their way upstream. The Heritage Center was nice and we stopped and had lunch at Annabelles before joining the tour. Annabelle's was good and fast and we made it to the Aleutian Ballad by 1:00. The AB was in season 2 of the Deadliest Catch and has been greatly modified to accomodate tour groups. They've built grandstands and have an aquariam on board to view all the things they try to catch. The ship is in very good condition and they clearly spent a lot of money on the redo. The "crew" are former commercial crab fishermen and are very funny and good at entertaining the audience. The State of Alaska does not allow them to drop crab pots in state waters, so the owners of the ship cut a deal with an Indian Nation close by on another island. They went through the whole process of pulling the pots up, processing the catch, rebaiting and dropping in the water. If you've seen the show you know what they do. They do a King Crab pot, Ophilio Crab Pot, then a Hagfish pot which is holding a Pacific Octopus. They make lots of time to hold each crab (not the octopus though) for pictures. On the way back they stop by several Bald Eagle nests and the birds are waiting for them. They start throwing fish and the eagles come to get it. Fun to watch. I enjoyed the excursion but DP (who never watched the show) gave it a C grade.

The show onboard that evening was a Magician who was pretty good. Ended the night in the Crow's Nest as usual.

Day 7 Sea Day

Worked out, did the Test Kitchen, missed Bingo and the much higher priced Wine Tasting and just relaxed. The highlight of the day, other than the beautiful scenary of the Inside Passage, was seeing a rather large pod of Orcas. This must be a known area for them as there were two sightseeing boats there also. They were hunting porpoises and the boat stopped to watch the show. Another highlight of the trip. Shot great pictures and video of these animals close by the ship as they hunted (successfully). A bonus was watching 2 of them surfing the wake of the ship...got that on video. Another highlight of the day was the "Meet the Captain" presentation in the Performance Hall. I can't remember his name but seems like a great guy. Wonderful presentation of the bridge and engine room along with great stories about his past and stories at sea. The questions from the audience were really good and I learned alot about the ship and how HAL operates.

Day 8 Vancouver

Disembarkation was relatively easy. HAL has a good process and we were in Black 2 because of the transfer to Seattle. Waited for our number, walked off and grabbed our luggage, showed the form to the immigration official and was led to our bus. The bus transfer cost $65 and took approximately 3.5 hours.

Our flight was scheduled for the following morning and we were a bit nervous as the airports in Houston had been closed all week. IAH was dry but the roads around the airport were impassable. Hobby had water over the runways for awhile. The airports opened late Wednesday and our flight left on time. Was wonderful to get home (which was high and dry) but if you've watched TV you know what certain parts of town looked like. Devastating.

Summary

It was hard to truly enjoy the cruise because of events at home but was a wonderful experience. I've wanted to do it for a long time and really really pleased with my choice of cruise line and port. Traveling the Inside Passage was the way to go and we were always in sight of land. The water was smooth the whole trip.

So what about HAL and Volendam? Going into the cruise I was expecting a much older crowd and a sedate experience onboard. I worried about finding things to do onboard to stay busy and fill out our days.

It's no secret that HAL attracts an older customer. The average age of those onboard was over 65 and there were many into their 70's and 80's. HAL knows their customers well and they deliver a product that gives them what they want. Volendam is a pretty quiet ship. Most nights there was one or two shows in the Performance Hall, a trio playing in the Ocean Bar, a violinist playing in the bar by the Expedition Cafe and that's it. The Crow's Nest was the best thing on the ship for us. Each night had something fun going on. Most people spend time in the library reading or sitting around the ship reading and having quiet conversations with their companions. I typically don't gamble unless there is a craps table (there wasn't). We don't do the shopping onboard, the Park West Art Auction, the photo hard sell or the presentations on shopping in port. We don't stay up real late partying either but like a variety of things to do. I think HAL is trying to change their image by adding venues that appeal to a broader audience. They've certainly been advertising a lot showing the BB King nightclub and Lincoln Center Stage. I think I'd like to try another ship in the HAL fleet that has those amenities to make a 7 day cruise a bit more fun. Traveling across the Pacific Ocean? Volendam is my ship. I'd like more to do on a shorter cruise. I still give the trip high marks (other than the MDR experience).

Having said that, I've had a change in what I want in a cruise. Do I miss the hairy chest contest, the smarmy cruise director with an english accent yelling all day, the hordes of people crowding every venue, kids running around and spring breakers drinking themselves to oblivion all day? No, not at all! Carnival is easy because of Galveston and has tons of stuff to do onboard, but I like the more laid back experience that other lines offer. So for the next cruise I'll look at another HAL ship or possibly Princess. RCL with their huge ships doesn't interest me and NCL seems similar to Carnival. I've heard good things about Celebrity so that's an option also.

If you made it this far thanks for reading. Again thanks to all who write reviews and post information about cruising. It really made planning for this cruise easy and so much more enjoyable.

I am enjoying your report, as we sail next year on the exact trip. Yes, those dreaded white spaces. I learned about that here on Cruise Critic.

 

I am going with open dining. Did you sit at a two top? Other than your situation, did you have to wait long for a table in the MDR?

 

Sounds like the guy was having a bad day (3 days in a row). He was probably thinking, "Oh crap, I forgot to fix this, well I will play dumb". Lol

Thanks! We sat at a two top each night in the MDR. In fairness, we didn't have to wait long. It looked to me like many people chose the late dining as the room really filled up closer to 8 pm.

Captain has to reset the compass once in a while. I hope someone comes along and gives a detailed explanation of this.

Enjoying your reports.

We are long time Mariners -- nearly 1200 days and we gave up eating in the dining room years ago -- too slow service and we haven't found the food to be to our liking no matter which ship we were on. As a result we eat dinner in the Pinnacle and at the Tamarind on ships that have that specialty restaurant.

Thank you! I've heard great things about Tamarind and agree, I'll be doing only Specialty dining in the future.

Your first post on Cruise Critic is a great beginning! I agree that Vancouver is a wonderful city - so much to see and do and such a glorious location. Looking forward to hearing more about your first (and hopefully not last?) HAL cruise. Prayers to all the people of Houston.

Thank you. Won't be the last HAL cruise.

Just got caught up.

I wonder how many years of "autographs" from various ships throughout the years were destroyed with those landslides in Skagway??

Glad you enjoyed your cruise and are thinking about another HAL cruise.

Thank you for taking the time to post your comments.

Our first cruise was in 2001 on the Volendam to Alaska. Your review brought back a lot of memories, maybe we'll go back again some day.

Hope everything is okay for you at home.

Northhou: Thank you for taking us along on your Inside Passage cruise. Your writing and humor are wonderful. And it seems that when you are handed lemons, you make amazing lemonade!

We have had had a few minor hiccups in the MDR on some of our HAL sailings. However, what you went through was absolutely appalling! I hope you had name(s) and date(s) at the ready when completing your comment card.

We are scheduled to board the Volendam in March (after the drydock) and really appreciated your comments about her current condition. Thank you!