Ok, Peaches, I'm dying to know!

[ekerr19]

PeachesFromGeorgia - You were on the Volendam voyage right after ours - and I really want to know how you found it...

 

Did you get to meet Craig the new F/B Manager? I hope so - he is such a sweetie!

 

Please, please let us know how your cruise went!!! :)

[peaches from georgia]

I will; just need a day to get my thoughts together. Ups and downs as any cruise will have, but we did love the Volendam, especially the decor! Red is 'my' color and flowers/fruit my favorite decorating theme. I would have taken that gorgeous huge painting of 'peaches' on the Navigation deck stairway landing if I could have smuggled it off the ship!

 

We had the suite right next to yours, btw, and a lovely couple enjoyed it, I'm sure you will be happy to know. :)

[ekerr19]

Thanks for checking in with us! I didn't realize it til you mentioned it - but you are really just getting back aren't you???

 

Glad to hear all went well - look forward to hearing all about it when you get the chance!

 

btw - I loved that "peaches" painting too! I am working on downloading all my photos, we took a few of the artwork, which we found to be quite interesting. I loved the "gold coin man" as I referred to him.

 

I will have to tell you about this couple on our sailing who were trying to get the photographer to move the giant double tulip vase/sculpture so they could have it in their cruise photo - it was too much!

 

Glad to hear those folks enjoyed our cabin - I know we sure did, lol!

 

Welcome back. :)

[Sage]

Peaches,

 

Welcome home, and I'm glad that you enjoyed the Volendam. We can't wait to be back aboard in May and and then again in April of next year. I'm looking forward to your thoughts and comments about the Volendam. Again, welcome home.

[doone]

Welcome back Peaches, looking forward to your review.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home!

Am anxious to read your review.

[gizmo]

Welcome home Peaches. Hope you enjoyed the Volendam. :)

[peaches from georgia]

Okay, the laundry is done and I've even had a dentist appointment this morning, so I guess I am officially at home and should get my thoughts on paper. For those who don't care to hear the details, the bottom line is we loved the Volendam and had a good time, with all the usual highs and lows one has come to expect. I would say we had an 8 on a 10 point scale, though the changes in HAL's overall product are getting more and more evident.

 

Embarkation and Debarkation were terrific. They opened up the terminal before 11 AM and we had only a very short wait before boarding. I was enjoying a Bloody Mary at the Lido before 11:30. On return we were off the ship a few minutes after 8 and on the Interstate headed north before 8:30. Never had it smoother or more efficient.

 

The decor and ambience of the Volendam was an A+ for us. We loved the ship. I asked DH yesterday how he would describe the Vol and his immediate reply was 'as elegant as the Rotterdam, but warmer'. I thought that a great answer. These are our 2 favorite ships with the Vol probably #1 now. I loved the decor, all the shades of reds and blue in the color schemes and especially the flower/fruit theme. Nothing glitzy, just class all the way. Beautiful floral drawings, prints and paintings everywhere were a delight and I enjoyed just walking and admiring the artwork more than on any other ship we have sailed.

 

I can only speak for our suite, but yes, some renovation and upgrading is needed- new carpet and new verandah furniture especially, but the new bedding is there and that made us very happy. We had absolutely no maintanence problems- everything worked perfectly- plumbing, shower, air conditioning, lighting- all A+.

 

The Neptune was lovely, our concierge Regina a sweetheart, and our experience was that the Pinnacle is doing a great job with the food and snacks in the Neptune. I think I read a short time ago in a review here that the food in the Neptune had decreased? We didn't find that so at all. It was as good or maybe better than any of the 3 other Neptunes we have previously enjoyed. Definetely an A+.

 

We loved this Southern Caribbean Volendam itinerary and had picked this cruise especially for these ports. Aruba and Curacao we visited on the Rotterdam and were anxious to return to both. DH played golf at a famous course on Aruba and I did a little window shopping, no buying. No excursions to report in Aruba. Curacao is probably our favorite port and we had a delightful day. We took the Trolley Train just for a short little refresher tour around Willemstad and then wandered through the Punda shopping district and waterfront on foot. Though it was Sunday, many of the shops were open and I was able to easily find the store that was recommended here by a poster as the place to find knock-off handbags. Thanks, OCruiser, I had copied your suggestion of months ago and was very successful! Then we had lunch at a little local outdoor cafe and had a delightful time talking with the owner.

 

Tortola we thoroughly enjoyed and will be anxious to return there again. We took the Sea and See excursion which I have described on another thread, so won't repeat. Very good. Dominica was a disappointment from beginning to end, but maybe next time there our experience will be better. First of all we had to tender- HAL had booked docking space months ago we were told, but Princess had come along and offered Roseau more $$$ and HAL wouldn't match the offer, so we tendered. We had booked the HAL tour that provides a drive through the island to get a general look at the countryside. It was scheduled for 8:30 AM when we booked online, but changed to 12:30 while on board, and it just screwed up our plans for the day. In addition the tour was overbooked; we all had to wait for additional buses to return from morning tours, the HAL shore excursion people were totally unorganized and uncommunicative, which we are finding to be the case more and more and will no longer be booking tours through HAL, to tell you the truth. We stood out in the high 90 degree heat forever, finally the buses came, unfortunately they must have lost their shock absorbers along the way. We bounced around, up and down mountains all afternoon (at times the 'up' part was questionable if we were going to make it), and we had one man on our bus who had to treat us all to his opinion on just about anything and everything. All in all it was a miserable afternoon. This was 'mass market' cruising at its very worst. :mad:

 

To be continued.

[Sage]

Peaches,

 

I'm so glad you liked the Volendam. We also loved the ambiance and decor, and it has now replaced the Rotterdam as our favorite ship. We are having a very hard time waiting the 43 days until we are back aboard. I thought that the crew and service were outstanding, and the food in the Pinnacle delicious as well. Thank you for your thoughts, and I can't wait for the rest of your review.

[Sailboater]

Peaches,

 

You indicated in an earlier post that you had the stateroom next to Ekrr's -- was that 7018 or 7014. We are booked in 7014 for the Panama Repo cruise next week and have made special note that you experienced no mechanical problems.

 

Thanks for any "inside info" you can give us. It is our first suite experience.

[ekerr19]

We also experienced NO mechanical problems in 7016 I am happy to report!

 

Peaches, I was going to wait until you finish to ask a few questions... so I will keep them. Thanks for starting your review - I am anxious to read the rest. :)

[peaches from georgia]

Mary-

 

We were in 7020. If you look at the Navigation Deck plan you will see there is no 7018. 7018 was an inside cabin and all those inside cabins were eliminated when the Neptune Lounge was built. So 7020 is the suite after 7016. We knew the couple in 7014 and they never mentioned any problems.

 

Enjoy your cruise and especially your suite. Say hi to Regina if she is your concierge.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Peaches, I am a little late wishing you a "Welcome Home" I am enjoying your review.

 

Thanks for posting.

[peaches from georgia]

Part II-

 

I did forget above to mention that we did not get to go ashore at HMC. A few tendered over in choppy seas and inclement weather before the day was cancelled and then had a heck of a time getting back.

 

Food- I hate to even get into this topic; it is so subjective. So no flaming, please, if you disagree. Our dining room situation was unpleasant for several reasons, in retrospect we handled things badly but hindsight is always easy. We had decided with our TA to request a table of size and location that was very different for us and it all turned out badly. Hated the location and had the tablemates from he!!, but these things are not always so obvious the first night or 2 and by the time we knew how really bad things were going to get it was way too late to change tables. Consequently we ate in the Pinnacle 3 times and the Lido once.

 

I reviewed the Pinnacle in another thread and won't repeat. Food and service fabulous the first 2 times, a little less so the last meal. But still would heartily recommend.

 

Lido Dinner- Surprisingly we really enjoyed this experience and would do it again any cruise. The service was great, linen and crystal transformed the dining area from the normal buffet atmosphere, and it was all very nice. Everyone there when we were dressed as you would in the dining room on a casual night and it was all very nice.

 

Dining Room- I'm sorry to be negative and my comments are not related at all to our disappointment with our table situation. To give the dining room a C+ for food and service is generous. The menus are 90% identical to all our other HAL cruises and once you see the first appetizer you know what is coming the rest of the choices. Okay, they have added a pasta dish every night, Master Chef Rudy's signature entree for the evening, and the Daily Alternatives. But little imagination or pizzazz is evident. I realize the # of people being served and it is banquet food, etc. However, there were a number of nights that we just didn't see anything in particular to order that made you really want to go to the dining room. There was a regular Dutch Night like old times, but no Dover Sole and we ate in the Pinnacle. There also was a BBQ on deck one night- excellent, much better than the one we had on the Rotterdam 2 years ago.

 

Service-

 

Dining Room service is now stretched so thin that to us it really is dragging HAL down. We made friends with a number of people at the tables next to us who had never been on HAL before and frankly they wouldn't come back because of the dr food and service. It's not the stewards' fault- they are just given more than they can handle. The wine steward was almost impossible to find and I wouldn't know our asst. steward if I passed him elsewhere on the ship. Our steward seemed very nice and experienced; we tipped him extra because we felt so sorry for him, but there is no possiblility of the relationship with the dining stewards and personnel that we have had before. As for staff and officers, our table was upper level at the stern windows and we never saw the Maitre d' or anyone else come anywhere aft of the railing. (We are back to our usual upfront table from now on. This was our last 'experiment' in a HAL dining room!)

 

Cabin Service- very good. Our steward was wonderful. Worked until 10:30 every night- all his suites had late dining- and I felt sorry for him. He was there when we needed him and kept everything A+.

 

Entertainment- We don't go to much of the entertainment, so I'm no help here. DH went to see Paul Pappas, who plays the piano as a show headliner, as he had enjoyed him on the Maasdam. I met him later on the ship and he was a lot of fun. DH says has a great show.

 

We are fans of the Ocean Bar and highly recommend. The Bar Supervisor there is a friend from the Maasdam, so we had some great times there this cruise on the Vol with him. Also our concierge from the Rotterdam is now GRM on the Vol, so we really had fun renewing old friendships. Great combo in the OB, too.

 

Daily Activities- All appeared to be the usual. Don't do many, so can't comment.

 

And, MOST IMPORTANT, a round of applause for the Photographers ! Never thought I'd say that. Hardly saw them!

 

I know I've forgotten a lot, but will try to answer any questions. Suffice it to say, we loved the Volendam and even with the disappointments we are looking forward to sailing her again.

[gizmo]

Great review!! Thanks !! :)

 

Sorry to hear service in the dining has not improved. :(

[ekerr19]

Peaches - Thanks for your review!

 

The Bar Supervisor, Raul - just over from the Maasdam is a friend of ours too! It was so nice to see him again.

 

I can't believe you worded exactly what DH said about the food in the D/R too. There were a few nights we couldn't even get excited about the menu. We ate in the Pinnacle 3 nights too - one night Lido (we agree, very nice) and one night room service.

 

Did you get a chance to meet Craig the new F/B Manager? We know him from the Noordam and like I've mentioned - we had the best menu selection on that cruise than we'd had in a long time. I hope Craig will get the opportunity to improve things on the Volendam.

 

Sorry you missed HMC - we were the only ship there and it was really nice. The food was very good that day too.

[doone]

Peaches, thanks for the review. I do have to say, after having the service in the dining room on the Zuiderdam, which I felt was good, but I will say that our dining room steward on the Zuiderdam was way, way over-worked. We all felt so sorry for him as well, he was hustling alot. Then I went on the Volendam, and I found our dining room steward here to be alot less over-worked, in comparison to the Zuiderdam. I think HAL needs to do whatever it takes to get more help in the dining rooms of their ships as it seems to be a common problem with alot of the ships.

 

Glad you enjoyed the Volendam, welcome home.

[ekerr19]

Peaches - I also have a question about the Mariner Reception - on another review the poster said that the Captain read the names of the Medallion recipients and that he did a poor job - I am somewhat surprised that the CD did not do the announcing as he did on our voyage. I know Captain Visser is a bit difficult to understand for some folks, but normally he speaks slowly and we have no problem understanding him. I feel it's a shame if he left that impression, because he really is a very sweet man and I have a great deal of respect for him.

 

Did you attend the reception? What are your thoughts?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hi peahces

Just cathcing up on some of your review.

When you were in Dominica, what shipped was docked at the Woodbridge Bat Pier (freight docks)? That would have been better than tendering in.

Regina was also our concierge. How is she doing? She was so sick during our second segment that we hardly saw her. She will be going home the first part of May - at that time she will be 5 months pregnant - and HAL is requesting all female employees who are pregnant to go home during their 5th month.

I wonder if you had Ali as your wine steward in the dining room???

We were fortunate to have excellent service in the dining room. After having a boring couple at our table on an Alaskan cruise in 2003, we have requested only tables for 2.

I am glad to hear that you had excellent bar service in the Ocean Bar - apparently the bar tenders did a rotation after we left.

[peaches from georgia]

Peaches - I also have a question about the Mariner Reception - ...Did you attend the reception? What are your thoughts?

Didn't attend. We have found them to be so crowded with too many people there just for a free drink. :eek:

[peaches from georgia]

Hi, KK-

 

1. A Carnival was at the Woodbridge dock. Forget which one. Yes, we were ticked off about the tendering. Seems like if there are only 2 docks somewhere and 3 ships, HAL is always the one tendering.

 

Also- in Curacao, we had the dock farthest from the bridge to the Punda- not walking distance, at least for us, like the preferred dock is. Norwegian Crown had that one.

 

2. Regina was fine and anxious to go home. Such a sweet girl. Do you know Papa-to-be Reggie in Explorer's Lounge?

 

3. George was our wine steward. He was fine, just too many tables to attend to everyone. I didn't mean to sound as if I was critical of him; it was the situation.

 

4. Our next cruise is with friends w/ a table in the front upper level already reserved and from then on we are back to table for 2.

 

5. Sorry you didn't have good service in the OB. Raul came the week after you left and that made all the difference in the world, I'm sure. He's terrific. I know Eduardo was behind the bar when we sat up there.

[sail7seas]

The Bar Supervisor, Raul - just over from the Maasdam is a friend of ours too! It was so nice to see him again

 

ekerr.....

We LOVE Raul. We sailed with him just before he was promoted and sure enough we saw him again within six months and he was so pleased when we immediately congratulated him. If anyone ever deserved that promotion, it is Raul. I'm sorry to hear he's on Volendam as that means we won't be seeing him on Maasdam. :(

[Esme]

There must be 2 Bar Supervisors named Raul, because the one we know is on another ship. We've known him for about 18-19 years when he was a bar waiter. He's been a Bar Supervisor for a number of years and one of these days I expect to see him promoted to Bar Manager. :)

[peaches from georgia]

Raul is a very popular name. There was another Raul with 'my' Raul all the time, but no where near as cute. ;)

[Two Ells]

After reading about the poor service in the dining rooms of nearly all the HA ships, particularly noticeable by HA repeat cruisers, I can't help but wonder why passengers don't take the time to flood HA headquarters in Seattle with letters of protest. Dining is one of the highlights of cruising and HA has made huge profits this year compared to previous years (according the yearly reports to stockholders) and it's understandable with all the cuts they have made! The Indonesian crew is wonderful but overworked....they used to know you by name on the second day of a cruise.

Now they are so busy they hardly have time to know their own names!