Volendam questions.

[zebra]

We are thinking of a South Pacific cruise on the Volendam and realise that she is an older ship but were wondering if she is in good shape. All comments and reviews on your experiences onboard would be very welcome. Thanks.

[sfels]

I wouldn't worry about any HAL ship's age. The Volendam is supposed to be going in for a refit in, I think, April, so she'll be all prettied up.

[Copper10-8]

We are thinking of a South Pacific cruise on the Volendam and realise that she is an older ship but were wondering if she is in good shape..................

Volendam was delivered to Holland America Line on 15 October 1999 so is now almost 11 1/2 years old which, btw, is not considered old for a cruise ship. She will enter dry-dock at the Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore exactly five days from today for twelve days' worth of standard maintenance + upkeep.

On the average, HAL ships enter dry-dock every 2 1/2 to 3 years for either standard maintenance + upkeep or upgrades, enhancements and/or new features. In between dry-dock periods HAL ships receive constant maintenance + upkeep from their hard working crews while at sea or in port.

[Ben Nevis]

We were on the ship for South Pacific/NZ in Feb, the ship is in good condition for its age , the furniture in some of the public spaces was a little scuffed/worn, our HH cabin was ok the carpet needed a good shampoo and a minor defect was that the curtain retaining bracket fell off the cabin wall.

Overall the cruise was great and the ships staff were as always first class, by the way Captain Bos is 4 star!!

 

stan

[zebra]

Thanks everyone.

 

Stan - how would you rate the food. It's been many years since we last sailed HAL.

[Jo-Bob]

I can add that I sailed on her last September and it was the best cruise I have been on. Yes, there were areas that weren't in pristine condition, but nothing that impacted my voyage in any way...crew as friendly and professional as ever and I got a kick out of Captain Boss's announcements.

 

Food was also the best I'd had on a ship, ate many meals in the Lido and Pinnacle Grill, which was fantastic. I was quite impressed with the food. It was a pleasure that each and every piece of salmon that I had was cooked perfectly, and it was offerred every day, in one form or another seemingly from one end of the ship to the other (Alaskan cruise). Not a single bad piece and I ate a ton of it:)

 

Hopefully you will enjoy the ship as much as I did.

[erewhon]

We are thinking of a South Pacific cruise on the Volendam and realise that she is an older ship but were wondering if she is in good shape. All comments and reviews on your experiences onboard would be very welcome. Thanks.

 

We were on the Volendam for 36 days last September/October, and will be very happy to sail aboard her in the future.

[Storylady]

We were on the ship for South Pacific/NZ in Feb, the ship is in good condition for its age , the furniture in some of the public spaces was a little scuffed/worn, our HH cabin was ok the carpet needed a good shampoo and a minor defect was that the curtain retaining bracket fell off the cabin wall.

Overall the cruise was great and the ships staff were as always first class, by the way Captain Bos is 4 star!!

 

stan

 

You are right Captain Bos is fantastic. Thought the ship looked great as I knew that it was going to go into dry dock.

 

Zebra, you might want to check the Sydney Ports schedule to see where the Volendam is docked on the date of your cruise. Make sure that it says Overseas Passenger Terminal. I believe that sometimes such as Dec 5, 2011, the Volendam will dock at Wharf 5. Docking at the Overseas Passenger Terminal is awesome as you are near the Harbor Bridge and across from the Sydney Opera House.

 

http://www.sydneyports.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/14594/Passenger_Vessel_Schedule_12_January_2011.pdf

[Storylady]

We were on the ship for South Pacific/NZ in Feb, the ship is in good condition for its age , the furniture in some of the public spaces was a little scuffed/worn, our HH cabin was ok the carpet needed a good shampoo and a minor defect was that the curtain retaining bracket fell off the cabin wall.

Overall the cruise was great and the ships staff were as always first class, by the way Captain Bos is 4 star!!

 

stan

 

You are right Captain Bos is fantastic. Thought the ship looked great as I knew that it was going to go into dry dock.

 

Zebra, you might want to check the Sydney Ports schedule to see where the Volendam is docked on the date of your cruise. Make sure that it says Overseas Passenger Terminal. I believe that sometimes such as Dec 5, 2011, the Volendam will dock at Wharf 5. Docking at the Overseas Passenger Terminal is awesome as you are near the Harbor Bridge and across from the Sydney Opera House.

 

http://www.sydneyports.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/14594/Passenger_Vessel_Schedule_12_January_2011.pdf

[erewhon]

You are right Captain Bos is fantastic. Thought the ship looked great as I knew that it was going to go into dry dock.

 

Zebra, you might want to check the Sydney Ports schedule to see where the Volendam is docked on the date of your cruise. Make sure that it says Overseas Passenger Terminal. I believe that sometimes such as Dec 5, 2011, the Volendam will dock at Wharf 5. Docking at the Overseas Passenger Terminal is awesome as you are near the Harbor Bridge and across from the Sydney Opera House.

 

http://www.sydneyports.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/14594/Passenger_Vessel_Schedule_12_January_2011.pdf

 

Wharf 5, Bangaroo is on the Darling Harbour side of the Harbour Bridge,so by docking there the Volendam will sail under the Harbour Bridge to depart from Sydney.

[zebra]

Wow thanks everyone - any one else want to add to this with their Volendam experience????

[portofrome]

I was on board on February 27th from Auckland to Sydney and she was in very good conditions for her age. Good food and excellent service. Then, the crew/staff was great! I will sail on her in the future.

[the2ofus]

I sailed on the Volendam, Auckland to Sydney this past December. She was in very good shape, the food was great and the crew is spectacular. Have sailed on her several times and would sail on her tomorrow if I could. Will be on her sister ship Zaandam in August. I like her size and I like the three staircases/elevator banks configuration. Easy to get from fore to aft and top to bottom. Lots of great spaces to sit and enjoy people watching, ocean watching or a quiet book or crossword puzzle. Never feels crowded. Love the Explorations Cafe area. You have made an excellent choice IMHO.

[KL Smith]

We just got off the Volendam the other day, March 31st, after doing the 32 day trip from AUK to SING. She is in drydock as we speak. Overall, the ship is in decent shape and should be gussied up over the next 2 weeks.

 

I like the Volendam as it is not too big. I also sailed on her two years ago and this time time saw a noticable change for the better in the food and service this time around.

 

HTH

[Osmosis Jones]

We will be boarding the Volendam for the third time next March.

We tried RCL (Legend of the Seas) just for something different, although similar size ship. We had a lovely time and everything was great, but it just lacked something compared to the Volendam.

We've found our Volendam cruises to be outstanding in every way.

The food, the ambience, the crew, the ship decor and design - well everything, to be just that little bit better and more to our liking.

 

Little things like pillow chocolates, jigsaw puzzles, teak decks, better design/layout of buffet area (Lido), made all the difference to what could have been quite similar cruise experiences. On RCL, we felt we were always lining up and everything was always crowded, for some reason, that didn't seem to be as bad on HA.

 

I would book every future cruise on the Volendam if I had my way:p

 

South Pacific is a lovely destination and on board such a beautiful ship, you are sure to have a fantastic trip:)

[zebra]

Sharon - thanks for that link. We will be docking at the overseas passenger terminal, which is great.

 

Michael and Belinda - will you be on the March 27th sailing out of Auckland?? If so, please come over to the Volendam Roll Call for that date and join us!! funnily enough we have cruised on the Legend of the Seas as well.

 

Gosh it sure sounds like we are going to enjoy the Volendam - lots of good reviews.

[Bellair]

She is a great ship & Peter Bos is excellent with his crew.

 

We board her in Kobe at the end of the month for Korea, Russia & onto Alaska.

 

Check out the link below of the South Pacific Treasures cruise as this will give an insight on the Volendam facilities.

[zebra]

Wow - Bellair thanks for those wonderful videos - now we are more excited than ever.