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

[lovely_serenity]

L.S.: Thanks for the well-written travelogue. Three of us will be on Volendam in ten weeks. Your comments provide us with a workable strategy for selecting our meal items and some thoughts on family fun.

 

At first, I got the impression that you've got a cushy lifestyle for someone so young. In all fairness, your parents earned it and your family seems to be a great model of companionship and mutual respect.

Good of you to show us how it is done. Keep improving your writing and photography; you never quite know where those skills can take you!

 

Thanks for following! (& A cushy lifestyle isn't so bad. Do you mean that I initially gave off the feeling of a spoiled child or.?)

Anyways, thanks for the kind comments. I'll work at my skills!

 

We always check whenever we are celebrating something.

One time the wait staff kept saying that DH had a birthday coming soon. Every day they would mention it. Then the actual day of his birthday -- nothing --not even a cake that time.

Great

I love your pictures along with your report.

 

Thank you :D & check with the maitre'd on birthday night!

 

Love all your pictures, Sarah!

 

I think you're right about the Black Forest Desert. Looks to me like they brought you something different. Aren't those blueberries in the picture?

 

Thanks! I actually did suspect that so I asked the server, "Is this Black Forest Cake?" He said, "Yeah! That's Black Forest". So... o_o & Yeah, blueberries.

 

Thank you for this great review and belated Happy Birthday. Your pictures and attention to detail is amazing. Glad you had such a good cruise.

 

Thank you! c: I appreciate your noticing of my OCD detailed-ness. ^^

 

生日快乐!

Lovely review. Thanks for sharing!

 

Thanks! (& Thanks for the birthday wish, but I had to Google Translate it Haha, I can't read chinese, I can speak cantonese though. I'm a very westernized child :D)

 

I am definitely subscribing to this one! I'll be on the Volendam in August, and it will be a birthday cruise for me, too (although I may be a *few* years older than you :)).

 

Thanks for following! :) && Haha ^^ *a few*

 

Hi, Sarah, great review and photos. In more than 125 days on HAL, I've never been to tea, so really I enjoyed yours! Now, I have a question - you're a great photographer - how do you manage to post the photos on Cruise Critic? I have a MacBookPro, and can't figure out how to do it. I usually just drag the photo onto my desktop and then drag it into an email, but that doesn't seem to work with CC. Help! :) Ann

 

Thanks! :D (& thank you again), it actually takes a lot of work! I had to make 3 Flickr account because I kept maxing out the max amount of photo uploads per month, and then full view of pic -> see all sizes -> drag pic with preferred dimensions onto URL bar = link pic

It took SO long to figure out how to do it. o_o

 

Really enjoying your review!

 

Thank you! I'm glad! (:

Edited May 15, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[spacepotatoes]

Your pictures are great! I love the food porn :)

[Vict0riann]

Thanks Sarah, but I have no idea what you're talking about:) Much too technical. My little brain cannot absorb all that stuff - flikr - url :confused: EEk! Ann

[vbmom87]

Do you recall if smoking was allowed in the Crow's Nest?

 

Also were there any no-smoking days in the casino?

 

Do you know if there is still fresh squeezed orange juice served for breakfast?

[vbmom87]

IN the early part of your review you commented about Tracy Arm. I do not know which travel site you got the itinerary you posted, but on the HAL site, it says "Service Call" for Tracy Arm. It is a 30 minute call. It does not say scenic cruising.

 

A few years ago, the Volendam did do a scenic cruising of Tracy Arm. However, last year they began the "service call." As you pointed out, this is where people get off the ship to take an excursion into the fjord. Since the fjord is typically not able to be navigated that early in the season due to ice jams, this excursion is not offered for the first few cruises in May. Cruise lines are not good about pointing out differences in itineraries depending on the time of year you take them. They don't want to discourage people from taking these shoulder season cruises. They will have a disclaimer in fine print saying itineraries may have to be changed. Seems to me they should just be honest and not show Tracy Arm on the itinerary for the sailings they know it will not be offered.

[Dreamer757]

Do you recall if smoking was allowed in the Crow's Nest?

 

Also were there any no-smoking days in the casino?

 

Do you know if there is still fresh squeezed orange juice served for breakfast?

 

When I was on the Volendam last May smoking was allowed in the Crow's Nest except for the day in Glacier Bay.

 

I HOPE that there is still fresh squeezed orange juice served for breakfast, because that and the comfy beds are two of the main reasons I book with Holland America Line.

[JamesEM]

Thanks for posting your reports and photos, looking forward to your next installments.

[CatgirlNC]

 

My significant other/travel companion is not a CC member, but I sent him the link to this thread, mainly for the menus. Everything sounds so awesome (and we’re only on day 2!), that I wanted him to see what we have to look forward to. Turns out that for him, the food looked good, but really caught his eye were the chairs in the Explorations Café in the picture above! He went nuts over them. He’s really into this style of furniture. Then I searched on Google for another picture of them, and found this one. He saw this and now he absolutely can’t wait to get on the ship and sit in these chairs. Only 3 months to go!

 

 

 

 

[Vict0riann]

He'll have to line up for a turn in one of those chairs! Very popular. Enjoy your cruise:)

[daisy37]

Sarah-really enjoying your trip report. I have never sailed on HAL so this is a great way to learn more. I'm not sure what HAL calls their daily schedules,(e.g. Disney Navigators) but wondered if there was any way you could post some of them. Especially for at sea days. thanks

[maysdot]

Sarah....really enjoy reading your report on the Volendam. I'll be sailing on her to Alaska this August and have a couple of questions for you. Did they have a local "On Location" team on board giving lectures, dance, history, etc.? I went to Hawaii on the Zaandam this winter and really enjoyed the cultural program given by Kaino, a native Hawaiian on board. Also, did you take part in any of the Digital Workshops, and were there any photo taking workshops given (although I suspect that you would be able to have given the lectures yourself on these topics!!):)

 

Keep up the good work, and again many thanks for giving us such enjoyment.

Jane

[lovely_serenity]

Your pictures are great! I love the food porn :)

 

Thanks! I guess my annoyingness in lugging that huge camera around 24/7 wasn't in vain! ^^

 

Thanks Sarah, but I have no idea what you're talking about:) Much too technical. My little brain cannot absorb all that stuff - flikr - url :confused: EEk! Ann

 

Awh ^^' sorry, and I'm sure it's because I didn't explain very well

 

Do you recall if smoking was allowed in the Crow's Nest?

 

Also were there any no-smoking days in the casino?

 

Do you know if there is still fresh squeezed orange juice served for breakfast?

 

I remember checking it out a couple of times. I don't really remember smelling smoke in the Crow's Nest, but I could be wrong. I DO remember there not being any smoking on Glacier day though. And regsrding the casino, there are never soecific non-smoking days, but when I walk by, there is usually a 60% chance I smell smoke. I don't remember seeing freshed squeezed orange juice in the lido for breakfast, but I can check my pictures? I know that the few times my siblings had orange juice, and Sis claims that her OJ (in MDR Breakfast) tasted fresh, had no pulp, but had the consistency of from-concentrate, so she wasn't sure.

 

IN the early part of your review you commented about Tracy Arm. I do not know which travel site you got the itinerary you posted, but on the HAL site, it says "Service Call" for Tracy Arm. It is a 30 minute call. It does not say scenic cruising.

 

A few years ago, the Volendam did do a scenic cruising of Tracy Arm. However, last year they began the "service call." As you pointed out, this is where people get off the ship to take an excursion into the fjord. Since the fjord is typically not able to be navigated that early in the season due to ice jams, this excursion is not offered for the first few cruises in May. Cruise lines are not good about pointing out differences in itineraries depending on the time of year you take them. They don't want to discourage people from taking these shoulder season cruises. They will have a disclaimer in fine print saying itineraries may have to be changed. Seems to me they should just be honest and not show Tracy Arm on the itinerary for the sailings they know it will not be offered.

 

I fully agree. They should make it clear that the itinerary is not as indicated on the website, Initially, I thought that we would be visiting there for a little bit, but it turns out that they were going to bypass it completely. Oh well, no big deal, been there before anyways.

 

When I was on the Volendam last May smoking was allowed in the Crow's Nest except for the day in Glacier Bay.

 

I HOPE that there is still fresh squeezed orange juice served for breakfast, because that and the comfy beds are two of the main reasons I book with Holland America Line.

 

I am actually not too sure that they had fresh squeezed OJ during breakfast, but I DO agree with you on the super comfy beds. Every time I lied down, I fell asleep, even when I didn't plan to!

 

Thanks for posting your reports and photos, looking forward to your next installments.

You're welcome! & I'm going to be working on the next installments shortly, as I have finished many of my exams recently.

 

My significant other/travel companion is not a CC member, but I sent him the link to this thread, mainly for the menus. Everything sounds so awesome (and we’re only on day 2!), that I wanted him to see what we have to look forward to. Turns out that for him, the food looked good, but really caught his eye were the chairs in the Explorations Café in the picture above! He went nuts over them. He’s really into this style of furniture. Then I searched on Google for another picture of them, and found this one. He saw this and now he absolutely can’t wait to get on the ship and sit in these chairs. Only 3 months to go!

 

(Btw, it looks exactly like that pic you incuded!) Cool! Thanks for sharing it with your significant other! & at the odd times of they day, there were many many seats available. During the beginning half of the cruise, there were only like, 3 people in the whole lounge. As the cruise progressed, I guess many people discovered it as, by the time we neared the end of the cruise, the lounge was full everyday! (except for our chess :D). Anyways, enjoy your cruise!

 

He'll have to line up for a turn in one of those chairs! Very popular. Enjoy your cruise:)

I did notice that there were a lot of people there, but only toward the latter half!

 

Sarah-really enjoying your trip report. I have never sailed on HAL so this is a great way to learn more. I'm not sure what HAL calls their daily schedules,(e.g. Disney Navigators) but wondered if there was any way you could post some of them. Especially for at sea days. thanks

HAL's version of the Navigator is called "On Location", and I guess I could post a pic of it? I'll have to look into that to see if I even have a picture of it. If not, it'll take a little while to show up since I'd then have to scan one to make it happen. I'll try though!

 

Sarah....really enjoy reading your report on the Volendam. I'll be sailing on her to Alaska this August and have a couple of questions for you. Did they have a local "On Location" team on board giving lectures, dance, history, etc.? I went to Hawaii on the Zaandam this winter and really enjoyed the cultural program given by Kaino, a native Hawaiian on board. Also, did you take part in any of the Digital Workshops, and were there any photo taking workshops given (although I suspect that you would be able to have given the lectures yourself on these topics!!):)

 

Keep up the good work, and again many thanks for giving us such enjoyment.

Jane

Ooo! I hope you have fun on your cruise! Regarding the On Location's team, at the mouth of Glacier Bay (@7am-ish?), we picked up a couple of rangers. They were women who went up to the Crow's Nest and made announcements talking about the Glaciers and stuff. You could hear them first hand in the Crows Nest, and you could hear them from.. Pretty much anywhere outside. They also opened. That glass covering in the Lido Pooldeck just a smidge so that the people poolside could hear them as well. I spent most of my time at the Bow and could hear them loud and clear! && I actually didn't take part in any of the Digital Workshops Haha ^^ (LOL Thank you~). Yes! I overheard one of the announcements that said (one day), they'd be having a photo workshop where you bring your camera and they'd teach you how to use it. (Fyi, Digital Workshop is in a little hole in the wall to the right of the MDR Deck 5 Entrance.)

[CowPrincess]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this -- you have a real talent for it, and I'm enjoying your travelogue immensely :D

[lovely_serenity]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this -- you have a real talent for it, and I'm enjoying your travelogue immensely :D

Oo~ you're welcome & thank you very much! I appreciate it <3

[lovely_serenity]

As we waited for the show to start, I also took a picture of the stage.

 

 

You can see Julie Barr's stool & water that all comedians have :D

 

In no time, the show began. She was actually pretty funny! Not BWAHAHA funny, but hehe ^^ funny. She liked to interact with the audience a lot and once asked whether there were any kids in the audience. I shouted: "Here! :D" and my dad jabbed me in the ribs. >_> ... "Did I hear a kid in the audience?" Resist. All. Temptations..Oh, who am I kidding? "YEAH! :D" and we had a little back and forth.

 

As the show progressed, I started to feel even more nauseous. Even the comedian commented on the ships movements. It was like my head was spinning because the ship was rocking in a circular fashion.

 

You can even see that I'm starting to lose it: .____. (Sorry, I'm not good with motion) It's slanted..

 

 

After the show finished, we teetered out of the theatre. By now, I was seriously starting to feel like throwing up, so we went back to our staterooms and turned in early.

 

End of Day 2

[lovely_serenity]

Day 3: Juneau, Alaska

 

I woke up early (my iPod nano pocket watch said 8:40am) since I fell asleep so quickly from nausea the night before. I was feeling much better! The sea was calmer since the ship had sailed into a pathway which was blocked by islands on both sides. I poked my head out the window and saw that the weather was pretty glum. You could see sunlight, but it was blocked by a low of clouds. So the whole sky was a cross between white and gray. Oh well.

 

I got up and looked around. Bro was sleeping on the couch bed and Sis sleeping in some weird position. I went to the closet, gathered my things and took a shower. Let me give you an example of exactly how deeply those two can sleep. I blow dried my hair for 15mins, came out, opened and closed some drawers and closets and neither of them moved. I even accidentally turned on some of the lights and quickly turned it back off ^^'

 

I finished getting ready, grabbed all of my camera stuff (including the mini camera bag I now use like a purse ^^) and went next door to Mom & Dad's room. I knocked on their door like it was a set of drums, and in around 1.5 minutes, Dad opened the door looking pretty disheveled looking like this:"O-O ???" I said: "Breakfast." He asked if there was still time. I looked at the time. It was 9:07 ish. Breakfast is from 8am - 9:30am. Hm. :( I doubt they'd be able to get ready fast enough. I looked down all sad because I made such an effort to get up.

That was when I remembered something Brett the cruise director said last night. O_O "Remember folks to turn your clocks back one hour tonight, so don't forget!" !!!!!! WE CAN STILL EAT BREAKFASST ~~ :DD *birds singing* *virtual sun shining*

 

Dad: "Oh yeahh!" Mom & Dad then proceeded to get ready. I went back to my room to see if Sis or Bro would be able to wake up. I opened the door and walked over to Sis's bed to decide in what weird manner I was going to wake her up in. >:) muahaha

 

I crawled on top of her and stuck my face to her head and (loudly) whispered "Wake uuppp~~" (hehehe xD). Sis moves a bit and looks visually irritated. (>:D) I poke her head with the top of my head. "Wake uuppppp~~~!" She says (groggily) "what do you want? -__-" "Want breakfast?" Her: "Yes." "Than get up!"

 

She slowly gets up and stares at me, irritated. "=__= what's wrong with you?" D: I wanted to wake her up without being loud, is that so bad?

 

Mom & Dad come in and say, "Let's go!" They look down and ask Bro if he wants to come. He says "breakfaast~~" in a half asleep voice. (LOL)

 

At about 8:40am (hehe oops), we all make our way up to the main dining room. We get a very nice seat right next to the window and settle down. By now, this is what outside looks like. The sun is fighting a losing battle. :(

 

Pretty though.

 

 

 

 

While in the middle of shooting, our server gave us our menus:

 

 

Here's the first flap. The menu looked like this: [ l l ]

 

 

[lovely_serenity]

Here's the middle flap:

 

 

And here's the right flap:

 

 

(I took several pictures of it due to it's large size, so I had to stitch my pictures together, that's why they look a little weird)

 

We ordered (I, a little rushed because I took pictures while everyone else decided) and I took some more pictures while we waited.

 

 

You can see my dad's little Kodak camera/caamcorder :D it's waterproof too!

 

 

More fresh flowers!

 

I also took another look outside, we were passing by some mountains with mist, quite pretty!

 

 

At the end of everyone's orders, they ask you what you would like to drink. Mostly juices. This is pretty much the only time you get to drink something cold on board that isn't "iced tea" nor ice water. It's a shame that they all taste somewhat diluted. Not sweet enough either.

 

Here come our juices! I thought it'd look pretty to put them together for a shot (:

 

 

From the top clockwise: Orange, apple, pineapple and pear!

[lovely_serenity]

Now everyone else's juices! The red one is cranberry.

 

 

When I was about to take it, my family started to get funny and add EVERYTHING THEY COULD REACH to the picture ^^

 

Another thing!! Apparently for the entire trip, HAL was having some sort of grape juice drought, because EVERY SINGLE TIME someone asked for grape juice, they'd be like: "Okay!" and then presto chang-o, "We're out, is cranberry okay?" And you'd be like ... sure.

 

Any who, food arrived! First up, Mom's Fresh Fruit Plate:

 

 

Not much of a plate, but nonetheless good.

 

This arrived at the same time, my Breakfast Parfait:

 

 

I liked it, but the rest of my family didn't really ^^' They thought it was dry, I thought it was okay. They used cereal instead of granola, which made eating it with their spoon difficult. I pretty much had to crush the cereal to make it fit. Also, the spoon they provide it is pretty much a soup spoon, so as you can see, it would make eating the bottom yogurt impossible -_-

 

These would have proven to be the only food we would be served for the next 50 minutes. Thankfully, 20 of those minutes flew by, as they were spent looking at these!:

 

 

Can you see it? No? How about now?

 

 

Yes! That's right! Dolphins! During our breakfast time (perfect since we were seated next to a window), a pod of dolphins came by. We decided not to shout things like: "OMG Dolphins!" because it'd be awkward if they went back underwater after many people came to our window..

These were 2 of them that came quite close to us! Occasionally, we'd see bits and pieces of them during our wait (wait as in, not meal). Near the end, no more dolphins :( But here's a shot of them swimming away!

 

 

Unfortunately, they were to be the only wildlife we'd see the entire trip :/ I have more pictures, but they're really far away dolphins.

Edited May 17, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

After a REALLY long wait (I mean really, even if there are problems in the kitchen, how long does it take to cook an egg?), some food arrived. And by some food, I mean ONE food. By now, quite a few people had already given up and left. I actually did notice that during daytime mealtimes, the MDR was irritatingly understaffed. I felt bad for the waiter being scolded by this old lady :(

 

Any how, here is the side of Smoked Salmon Bro ordered. Huh, maybe I should have thought of that ^^:

 

 

While waiting, here's a pic I took of the neighboring 2 person table, just for you guys :D

 

 

And here's my last look outside before we actually did get our real food.

 

 

Here is my Cinnamon-Sugar French Toast.

 

 

It tasted pretty good, plenty sweet, but isn't french toast supposed to be a little crispy or something? This toast wasn't really toast, more like tasty bread because of it's texture. Very soft and cushion-y. I also tasted more butter than french toast-ness. Nonetheless, good. (Not dry at all)

 

Next on the list are our Eggs Royales. Essentially Eggs Benedict with smokes salmon. First up was Dad's meal. He ordered it with a side of bacon and hash brown. That melon you see came from Mom haha (:

 

 

Bro ordered an omelet with; and I quote; "Everything on it, except ham, peppers, asparagus or goat/Gruyère cheese c:" and the waiter responded by asking him to list everything he wanted on it. I found this kind of weird because the waiter did this to everyone else too. (Btw, he wasn't very friendly either. Just doing his job, nothing more, nothing less. meh) When I asked for some fruit thing with all the fruits on the list, he asked me to LIST ALL THE FRUITS ON THE LIST. 0_0 Really? He got it wrong anyways. '>_>

 

Anyways, oh yeah! Here's Bro's omelet haha.

 

[lovely_serenity]

And then here are Sis's, My, and Mom's Eggs Royales:

 

Sis:

 

 

Mine: (I ate it with the french toast ^^)

 

 

and Mom's:

 

 

I found that they were very much not cooked inside. When you sliced it open (with ease), the inside was leaky (which I like), but it was dark orange. o_o Hm. Oh wells. It was still good.

 

After a nice meal, (my SD card became full for the first time after taking a picture of my Breakfast Parfait!), We all went our separate ways and agreed to meet up in front of the MDR for lunch at 12pm. I kind of failed ._____. I was 12 minutes late. Oopsie daisy.

 

Anyways, while Bro & Sis played chess together and Mom & Dad went to go do whatever and I went down to deck 3 to take some pictures of us approaching Juneau. Ready? Break! :D

 

First, I went down to deck 2, back to our cabin to change lens to use my landscape lens (for the first time eee! ^^). After that, I went up one deck and connected my camera to Dad's monopod (pretty much a metal stick that is height adjustable for stability). Here are some of the shots I took:

 

Right:

 

 

Centre-ish:

 

 

Left:

 

 

 

 

*** Regarding Today's On Location stuff, and other fun papers and stuff I got on board, toward the end, I will scan them all (takes time) and post them, okay? So be patient. And sorry in advance, I missed some papers for a day or two :(

Edited May 17, 2013 by lovely_serenity

[lovely_serenity]

I could see that we were slowly approaching land. You could see signs of civilization as we got closer and closer to the shore :D :

 

 

After taking some pictures, I started to get a little bored. I then noticed two men walking towards me from my left. Hm. They came from the very front of the ship.. I should check that out! (I remember reading online about people talking about going to the bow) >:)

 

I waddled about, peering around the corner and what do I see? Spray painted onto the wall is a guide that says "This Way To Bow". Thank you! :D

 

I opened a heavy door that said "Open this door!" and waited for some people to get out. (This means people are allowed there!) Btw, watch out, the big door had a little metal ledge on the floor. Be careful, I tripped. I then followed a little path (painted with yellow paint) and it led to a little stair (yeah. singular) a short distance away. I basically walked forward 4-5 steps and then made a U-turn. There was an open, oval door, got on the tall stair, stepped over the little ridge, and onto another large step. I then hopped off and when do I see? They bow! I pretty much looked like: O_O <3

 

This is the first thing I saw:

 

 

Not much of a secret, eh?

 

Here is a look at where I came out. They door on the left. Right above you can see the Brig and the Crow's Nest.

 

 

Here was our approximate distance from Juneau. We were scheduled to arrive around 1pm.

 

 

We were slowly getting closer and closer to land.

 

 

At this time, my camera started to act up again. It would not record properly. Every 4-10 seconds, it would suddenly stop, cut off and say that the video has "automatically stopped". WHY?? :( It turns out it just wouldn't accept Dad's memory card (remember I said it got full during breakfast? Yeah, I stole Dad's card).

 

Welcome to Juneau, Alaska!

 

[lovely_serenity]

Here was my view to the right:

 

 

And to my left:

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7298/8746079641_6aaafb491a_b.jpg

 

We'ere closer now! We will be docking where you see the little boat.

 

 

The weather doesn't look good :/ While we were there, there was light rain. It later got very heavy.

 

Welcome to Juneau for real!

 

 

I look at the time and realize it it 12pm now, and I still have to go back to my room, change and change/put some of my camera equipment.

 

By the time I got up there, many people were standing and I didn't see my family anywhere. I poked around and asked for a while, "How I should check if my family is there? " Eventually, my sister happened to see me, so she brought me in.

I was a little tired, but I was okay. Do you have any idea of how idiol.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful

I have learned to eat before I look at all your food pictures. :D

We love HAL's breakfast menu which they started in 2010 -- way better than it used to be.

We have also noticed that many of the juices are watered down.

[franksandy]

6 more sleeps and your Cruise will be my cruise....getting very excited..Thanks for my preview..

 

Sandy

[lovely_serenity]

***Sorry about that last post and how messed up some of it was. I was writing it and I fell asleep at my computer 3 times, so.. yeah o_o Here's my edits.

 

PICTURE THAT GOT LINKED BY ACCIDENT:

 

And to my left:

 

 

PICTURE THAT DIDN'T EVEN WORK:

 

We're closer now! We will be docking where you see the little boat.

 

 

I look at the time and realize it it 12pm now, and I still have to go back to my room, change and change/put some of my camera equipment.

 

By the time I got up there, many people were standing and I didn't see my family anywhere. I poked around and asked for a while, "How I should check if my family is there? " Eventually, my sister happened to see me, so she brought me in.

I was a little tired, but I was okay. Do you have any idea of how mean my camera was being? I was actually getting pretty stressed because of it. Any who, we (as in me) settled down and was told to order my food. Right now, by my family. o_o Good thing I read the lunch menu already earlier during breakfast (menus displayed to the sides of the entrance). Here was what our menus looked like. (Yeah, even during the rushing, I still took them for you guys c:):

 

 

 

 

First to make it's appearance was the Smoked Salmon Tartare:

 

 

Pretty much everyone ordered one of these!

This one was goood :D But kind of weird to eat since it kept falling apart.

Edited May 17, 2013 by lovely_serenity