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"Live from" ms Volendam to Alaska! My First HAL Experience


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I'm so glad I found this review. I'd been wondering if HAL would be a good fit for us and now I'm certain of it! Thank you for your love story-telling and fabulous photos. Love the emoticons! c:

 

Aw, that's great! :) I'm so glad that my review is able to help you decide your cruise! (You're welcome ^^ & thank you!)

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Oh, by the way, from my 3 cruises to Alaska, I would actually put the Volendam as #3. Not that it was bad or anything, just that my experiences on the Celebrity Mercury and the Disney Wonder were my top 2 cruising experiences ever. So in my mind thus far, my rankings go:

 

Disney/Celebrity>HAL/Carnival>Princess/RCI

 

in my opinion :)

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Just found this thread and working my way up to page 20 so far, as we will be joining the Volendam in a few months ourselves.

 

What dazzles me more than even your entries and your photos is the candor and insightful observations you make about your journey, your family and yourself.

 

This is a rare gem of a thread and I think we all feel honored let us take this trip with you and your remarkable family. It has been a heart-warming story as we join you each day. I will repeat what others have also remarked: you are one heck of a writer and we all suspect you will go far in life, where ever you want it to take it.

 

My one observation however is it appears cruising is indeed wasted on us old folks who can only look with envy when we share how many times and ways you (as a young'in) could enjoy the multitude of dining options while onboard, while the rest of us with our creeping senior metabolisms get overweight just looking at lettuce leaves and ice water.

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Just found this thread and working my way up to page 20 so far, as we will be joining the Volendam in a few months ourselves.

 

What dazzles me more than even your entries and your photos is the candor and insightful observations you make about your journey, your family and yourself.

 

This is a rare gem of a thread and I think we all feel honored let us take this trip with you and your remarkable family. It has been a heart-warming story as we join you each day. I will repeat what others have also remarked: you are one heck of a writer and we all suspect you will go far in life, where ever you want it to take it.

 

My one observation however is it appears cruising is indeed wasted on us old folks who can only look with envy when we share how many times and ways you (as a young'in) could enjoy the multitude of dining options while onboard, while the rest of us with our creeping senior metabolisms get overweight just looking at lettuce leaves and ice water.

 

Awh :,) thank you for such a wonderfully touching comment! It totally made my day. You are too kind, this is one of the nicest comments I've received thus far! I definitely hope that my review will be able to successfully aid in the planning of your up and coming Volendam cruise! I also hope that you have a great time on your vacation! :)

 

Haha, well I believe that cruising is the best kind of vacation! When I retire, I'm going to do what my parents are planning to do, do on a cruise every couple of months! :D I think it'll be a good way to relax to the max! Doesn't matter how much you eat as long as you're happy! ^^

 

Warm regards,

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[QUOTE=lovely_serenity;40387121..... Doesn't matter how much you eat as long as you're happy! ^^

Warm regards,

 

 

My new rule is to be careful now upfront, and then finally go for broke only during the last week when my plates and dining schedules start looking a lot like your photos. :p

 

We love the teas too, and even the scones. The Indonesian one, the Royal Dutch ones are sure hits, and there is a very good Australian one when sailing down under.

 

The real treat we found at the Indonesian Tea is the offer of Sumatra coffee, in a french press. Lush, robust, deep flavor coffee comes from this Indonesian Island. In fact that is all we had on our last Indonesian Tea date - too much enjoyed on shore that day.

 

As the astute culinary adventurer you obviously are, you will be pleased to know we did pick up a pack of the infamous "poo-brew", civet cat pre-digested (ahem) coffee Indonesia is famous for and it was fabulous.

 

Hope all your travel dreams come true. I think they will!

Edited by OlsSalt
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My new rule is to be careful now upfront, and then finally go for broke only during the last week when my plates and dining schedules start looking a lot like your photos. :p

 

We love the teas too, and even the scones. The Indonesian one, the Royal Dutch ones are sure hits, and there is a very good Australian one when sailing down under.

 

The real treat we found at the Indonesian Tea is the offer of Sumatra coffee, in a french press. Lush, robust, deep flavor coffee comes from this Indonesian Island. In fact that is all we had on our last Indonesian Tea date - too much enjoyed on shore that day.

 

As the astute culinary adventurer you obviously are, you will be pleased to know we did pick up a pack of the infamous "poo-brew", civet cat pre-digested (ahem) coffee Indonesia is famous for and it was fabulous.

 

Hope all your travel dreams come true. I think they will!

 

Haha, good game plan :D Fill up on the good stuff, rather than the cheap stuff!

 

I love Afternoon teas! I try my best to attend every single one ^^ I actually noticed that most people didn't eat the scones that were offered during the week. :/ Hm, I wonder why, not their thing I guess?

 

My parents & brother tried both of the coffees offered on Indonesian Tea day, I can't quite recall, but I remember they liked the one they didn't expect to! (one was supposed to taste like mocha or something but they actually liked the other one better!)

 

Haha! Really? :D I've heard of those! Apparently the digestion via civit cat absorbs all of the proteins or something out of the coffee beans, leaving them to taste amazing! Expensive though isn't it? I've heard that it's the world's most expensive coffee (or something of the sort) :p

 

I myself am not much of a coffee person, so I can't speak for myself, but all of the coffee opinions I get come from my other family members :)

 

Thank you! & likewise! (:

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  • 3 weeks later...

Probably off topic but am thinking of booking Volendam from Singapore to Vancouver in 2015. Which would be the better deck Dolphin or Main? Have not cruised with HAL so am worried about the noise from Lower promenade deck if we book main deck. Any answer would be helpful.

Thanks

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Probably off topic but am thinking of booking Volendam from Singapore to Vancouver in 2015. Which would be the better deck Dolphin or Main? Have not cruised with HAL so am worried about the noise from Lower promenade deck if we book main deck. Any answer would be helpful.

Thanks

You're right: this is off-topic, and doesn't belong on this thread. More people will see your question, and are more likely to answer it, if you start a new thread to ask it.

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Probably off topic but am thinking of booking Volendam from Singapore to Vancouver in 2015. Which would be the better deck Dolphin or Main? Have not cruised with HAL so am worried about the noise from Lower promenade deck if we book main deck. Any answer would be helpful.

Thanks

 

Well, I can't say I know a lot on this subject, but I think the Dolphin deck risks the possibility of engine noise is you are too far back, while the main deck would risk noise if its under or above any sort of club like area, so I'd suggest you check out the surrounding layout before picking your cabin. Hope I could help! :)

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