Volendam or Zuiderdam ?

[room with a view]

We have a choice of ships for our Alaska cruise.

 

Any thoughts/comments/advice on which to choose - the Volendam or the Zuiderdam ?

 

thanks:)

[Himself]

I personally prefer the Volendam. The Volendam goes out mid week and the Volendam is a smaller ship.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Are the itineraries the same?

We choose cruises for the itineraries.

[TheCalicoCat]

We chose Volendam - smaller ship. (Seems like it should be able to get in closer based on its size...) I also liked the Wednesday departure. Airfare was cheaper as a result & our before & after cruise activities will not have weekend crowds.

[travelingla]

We cruised the Vol on 2006 on the same RT Vancouver itinerary and really feel it was THE perfect cruise for us. We are heading back in 2013 with a group of friends and I am thrilled the same ship and itin are available! But...... I now see the Zui is on the same itinerary as well.

 

What are your thoughts of that larger ship vs the Volendam? That is our only HAL cruise -- we've cruised NCL as well + a few others but prefer NCL to the 'others' -- LOVE HAL and are excited about a repeat on this cruise line.

 

Any reason why we would think the Zui to be better? The group is mainly early to mid 60s but most are quite active and 'young' 60s ... and can't believe we are 60 ! :eek: We plan active excursions -- just a heads up if that matters on the ship -- I recall not really getting 'into' ship activities on this cruise as we were off the ship all day -- or on our balcony viewing the scenery - or eating or sleeping to be ready for the next day :)

 

Thanks for any help!

[Mary Ellen]

I've sailed on both ships in the past year. I'd take the Volendam in a heartbeat over the Zuiderdam.

[IRL_Joanie]

Zuiderdam wins hands down for us ONLY because the ship has aft wrap around staterooms and the Volendam, as well as the other R and S class ships do not.

 

In our minds, the aft wrap around staterooms are our Penthouse and we will not cruise in any other type of stateroom.

 

So given the choice between a Vista or Signature Class ship over and R or S Class ship doing the same itinerary, same days, we choose Vista or Signature ships:)

 

Joanie

[startwin]

Volendam, without a doubt. Wonderful ship and crew, perfect size, and mid-week departure is a super bonus.

[RuthC]

I've sailed both ships, and been very happy on each. I would choose the Volendam for this Alaska itinerary. The ship is smaller, which is a preference of mine. It's easier to get around, has lots of comfortable deck space (important in Alaska---get off that balcony and see the bigger picture), and has all the amenities of the larger ship.

What's more, the Volendam shares the ports with fewer passengers from other ships. This makes your time ashore much, much better.

[SwissMyst]

Volendam - biggest bonus is not fighting the Saturday-Saturday cruise crowds and Vancouver check-in when you share the port with other large ships.

 

We love the small ships, but also found the Zuiderdam quite satisfactory for our Alaska cruise - still the best MDR food of any HAL ship so far. (At least back then - 6/10)

[RMLincoln]

What kind of room are you looking at? We enjoyed Volendam to Alaska. We get inside or ocean view rooms so we like that the less expensive cabins on Volendam class have couches but they do not on the Vista Class ships. I haven't checked these itineraries but we took Vol. out of Vancouver and prefer that over Seattle becauue of several reasons: cheaper parking, calmer waters, and better scenery traveling out and back through the channel east of Vancouver Island. Get up early that first morning and savor the close scenery.

[travelingla]

Thanks for those great quick replies!

 

We personally will ONLY choose a balcony for Alaska......but some of our group will go for the OV or Inside due to the cost. I like the comment on the more comfy inside/ov cabins - good to know.

 

I LOVED our 'little' whirlpool in the varandah cat the year we went - after those long hikes it felt soooo good.

 

OK -- so I will stick with the Volendam -- it is the Vancouver RT -- Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay - same as we had in '06 -- and we will love returning -- we went in May then and plan on a late July trip this time to hopefully see the bear and salmon -- it is a LOT more costly to go in late July than May - so I hope we get to see the salmon run and bear 'fishing' !!!!

 

Any of you been there, done that in late July????

[travelingla]

I've sailed both ships, and been very happy on each. I would choose the Volendam for this Alaska itinerary. The ship is smaller, which is a preference of mine. It's easier to get around, has lots of comfortable deck space (important in Alaska---get off that balcony and see the bigger picture), and has all the amenities of the larger ship.

What's more, the Volendam shares the ports with fewer passengers from other ships. This makes your time ashore much, much better.

 

I agree, Ruth -- we did get out and about on the outside decks.....we spent the day at Glacier Bay up front in the misty rain as the view was indeed incredible! We still enjoyed breakfast each morning on our balcony -- and the sunsets at night -- we did see calving at GB from our own balcony and the slow advance to Tracy Arm (of course we did not make it in May but what we saw did NOT disappoint - it was my favorite day of the week!) from our balcony was incredible.

[catl331]

I agree with Ruth!:) Somehow the Zuiderdam leaves me neutral. Nothing to get excited about and I totally am in love with the Noordam! Like the N. Amsterdam and Eurodam also. I really like not walking back and forth on the smaller ships though. Less people is a plus! I think ALaska is a place for the smaller ships. We did both the Amsterdam and Statendam in Alaska. Never had a balcony there and never needed one. Still hoping to get on the Prinsendam some day!!!

[SwissMyst]

Inside rooms during trips to the Land of the Midnight Sun are at a premium and often there are bargains for the balcony or mini-suites which we found. If you want a dark room at night in this part of the world at this time of year, you only get it with an inside cabin because even closing the curtains in the outside rooms still lets in a lot of late night light leak.

 

We liked the mini-suite (the non-Neptune level Vista suites - SY etc) because it had wider windows so we had more views from inside our toasty room. We used the balcony only a little when we could sit out there in lap rugs - liked it particularly when returning down the Inside Passage.

 

But most of the real Alaska viewing does need to take place on the outside decks (Brrrrrr) for the full sweep as already recommended. Plus with the lid on the Lido closed, it becomes one big viewing sun room with all the chairs now facing out instead of towards the pool which is more typical of regular cruises.

[RuthC]

Any of you been there, done that in late July????

My first Alaska cruise was the last two weeks of July that year. You could practically stand at water's edge, reach over, and pick up the salmon resting on the edge of the stream near Mendenhall Glacier. They were jumping out of the water along Creek Street in Ketchikan.

I didn't get close to bears that trip. That might have been for the best, though.

[tangerinebunny]

Thanks for the good advice; it helped us make the same decision today.

[whogo]

Volendam 1440 passengers 12 elevators

Zuiderdam 1918 passengers 10 elevators

 

We sailed both. After the Zuiderdam, the Volendam seemed much less crowded, especially the elevators, stairways, and Lido buffet. I would take the Volendam if the itineraries are the same.

[SwissMyst]

Volendam 1440 passengers 12 elevators

Zuiderdam 1918 passengers 10 elevators

 

We sailed both. After the Zuiderdam, the Volendam seemed much less crowded, especially the elevators, stairways, and Lido buffet. I would take the Volendam if the itineraries are the same.

 

We found it easier to take the stairs on the smaller ships to get to the main activity areas, Whereas on the Vista ships, we more likely need to depend upon the elevators to get where we want to go.

 

Therefore there was more sense of crowding on the Vista ships. Plus the trips to our cabin are so much shorter even if we take the "wrong' elevator or set of stairs to get to our room on the smaller ships.

 

Yes, I think the sheer increase in numbers of passengers which requires larger of everything does start feeling a bit crowded moving from the R/S class ships to the Vista and higher.

[room with a view]

When we were looking at the two packages we had a choice between the two ships.

 

The package we liked took in a land trip then the Rocky Mountainner then the criuse - Saturday to Saturday.

 

So it will be the Zuiderdam - we have booked a VC cabin .

 

This will be a trip of a lifetime -so hopefully the larger ship (and more passengers) will not detract from our holiday.:)

[whogo]

When we were looking at the two packages we had a choice between the two ships.

 

The package we liked took in a land trip then the Rocky Mountainner then the criuse - Saturday to Saturday.

 

So it will be the Zuiderdam - we have booked a VC cabin .

 

This will be a trip of a lifetime -so hopefully the larger ship (and more passengers) will not detract from our holiday.:)

You will have a great trip on the Zuiderdam. Enjoy.

[WriterOnDeck]

My first choice would be the Amsterdam -- 14 days! It's a wonderful cruise with extra ports no one else gets to. But I understand that everyone doesn't have that much time.

[travelingla]

My first Alaska cruise was the last two weeks of July that year. You could practically stand at water's edge, reach over, and pick up the salmon resting on the edge of the stream near Mendenhall Glacier. They were jumping out of the water along Creek Street in Ketchikan.

I didn't get close to bears that trip. That might have been for the best, though.

 

Thanks for your report, Ruth. We are booked on the July 24 cruise -- so that is, hopefully, perfect timing for the salmon run.

[Stevesan]

It's no contest, Volendam by far the better choice. I sailed my first, and only, Vista class ship on Zuiderdam. This was my take on it, the good and the bad:

 

 

The Ship:

Zuiderdam has eleven decks. Decks four thru eight and part of deck two are cabins. Two per cabin occupancy is 1,824 with 800 crewmembers. She weighs 82,000 tons and is 935 feet long so that three circuits around the continuous lower promenade deck approximates one mile. She is powered by five diesel engines and one gas turbine, and she is propelled by 25,000 bhp Azipod props (more about these later). The décor is appropriate to the itinerary. Zuiderdam was built and designed for year round Caribbean cruising and the interior motifs reflect this concept. Some areas offer a challenge to navigate; especially the central lounges adjoining the casino on deck two. There are nooks, crannies and small corridors to deal with, somewhat similar to what is occasionally found in the lounge areas of some land resort hotels. Maybe this is what the designers had in mind? The central atrium is smaller than on the S Class ships. This provides more space for the lounges and other public areas, but I miss the larger atrium which I often use as a reference point for navigation.

The ship is impeccably clean and shows little signs of wear, a credit to the maintenance crew, her Unlike the S Class ships, Zuiderdam does not have a passenger use laundry. Twice we used the $12 per ‘full bag’ laundry service. Both times delivery was next day.

The Lounges:

The Best:

Crow’s Nest. Great viewing lounge with huge wraparound window located forward on deck ten. Cocktail piano, also theme night music such as 50s & 60s tunes by CD.

Explorer’s Lounge. Classical music by The Rosario Strings. This is also the venue for afternoon tea. Excellent snacks and a good selection of teas (save room for the scones!).

The Worst:

Queen’s Lounge. So poorly designed that it’s useless for any function. That’s too bad because The HAL Cats, a truly good band fronted by a first-rate vocal quartet, played danceable music here most nights.

Ocean Bar - Once again, poor design. This lounge is totally open to the atrium losing any identity as a lounge, and the dance floor is too small. For some incomprehensible reason, a divider is installed across the center of the seating area, disconnecting the rear of the lounge from the front.

No Opinion: Northern Lights – Late night activity usually starting at 10PM, mostly disco and light rock. A DJ spinning CDs supplies music. Booth seating surrounds a largish dance floor. Design by Gateway.

The Vista Lounge, The main showroom is forward on decks one and two. This is an attractive room of good design with comfortable seating. Just don’t sit behind one of the many pillars or in the rear of the upper section. Unfortunately, the quality of the shows does not match the setting. The production shows are LOUD. Who decided that loud is good? To paraphrase Shakespeare, let’s kill all the soundmen, too! Following cruise ship tradition there are two production shows. The first was decent, but the second, a review of movie musicals, was near unbearable. Almost every number, including the romantic ballads, was programmed in a hyper, upbeat tempo, making all the tunes sound alike. The show was completely out of sync and boring. The music for the production shows is prerecorded. Did I mention that it is LOUD? The cast was excellent with talented dancers and singers, all completely wasted. We didn’t repeat any shows during week two.

 

The Vista Dining Room: An attractive and well-constructed design. There are two levels located aft on decks two and three. Seating is well organized with comfortable chairs and some banquet tables. Best of all, each dining area has its own galley located immediately adjacent to the dining rooms. Instead of waiting for dumb waiters from a galley below, dishes are more directly served. This means hot dishes arrive hot and cold are offered cold. You do want to avoid seating the far aft section of the lower dining room. When cranked up the Azipod propulsion system delivers a significant vibration. The shaking is primarily felt on the back end of the lower deck. However, it’s only a problem when the engines are pressed. The captain tries to maintain lower revs during dining hours, but there are times they must be turned up. When this happens the place settings won’t dance off the tables, but it’s definitely uncomfortable.

[yvrnavigator]

Instead of starting a new thread I thought I ask my question about the Volendam here and see if I get some response first.

I am wondering about the oceanview cabin sizes.

According to the HAL site they are between 140 - 319 sqf, which is a big difference.

I am looking specifically at a DD on the Upper Promenade but would like to know how it would compare to an F (as an example on the Dolphin Deck).

I assume that the H cabins are the smallest sized ones.