Volendam August 21, 2013

[CMDE]

Posted this in the review section, but thought I should also post it here.

 

We sailed on the August 21st sailing of the Volendam, so just back yesterday.

 

We arrived in Vancouver 2 days prior and stayed at the Pan Pacific - lovely hotel and great location, with many great restaurant choices near by - Bellagio's for breakfast, Mahony and Sons and Mill Marine Bistro for dinner, Urban Fair (chic grocery store) for lunch. We had a harbour view, and it was wonderful to wake up and see the Volendam docking right outside our room.

 

Embarkation was very fast - the bellcap at the hotel took our luggage from our room to the ship - nice perk! We were on board just before 1, just in time for the Mariner lunch in the MDR.

 

Overall the ship was nice, quite small and east to get around. The teak wrap-around deck for walking is a real advantage and we took advantage of it. Rooms were lovely - my husband and I had verandah suite 6107 and my sister had 6105 right next door, very near the front. The steward did offer to open up the balconies for us, but it was just a small door in the divider so we decided not to leave it open. We were above the theatre and could definitely hear the shows from below, but it didn't bother us because the timing was fine - we tend to go to bed late. Sailing was very smooth except for one night - if it were a different sailing I would choose rooms nearer the middle. Had a great room steward (Supy) who seemed to "stage-manage" the rooms every day so they always looked great! Lots of storage and a very comfortable bed.

 

We had room service breakfasts nearly every morning - very good and always on time. Lunch was either in the Lido or the MDR, including the Mariner brunch which was sit-down and very nice. Coffee was a little weak for me, so I went to the Explorers Cafe every day - great place to sit, nice selection in the library, and nice table to play cards.

 

In general the food in the MDR was excellent, although the service was VERY slow - our first dinner took 3 hours, and most of the other dinners were well over 2 hours, way too long for us. We were often worried about running into the second seating! I do not know why there was such a hold-up - staff were nice and fairly attentive, but it just seemed to take forever between courses.

 

I personally didn't go to the shows, but my husband really liked the juggler and the magician shows.

 

A few little service points bothered me: nobody seemed to be there to greet us when we embarked, and when we went to the MDR for the first time there was nobody there to show us to our table - something we are used to from other cruises.

 

We did the Tracy Arm excursion from the ship - EXCELLENT, the real highlight of the cruise. Saw lots of humpbacks, great birds. Glacier Bay was also amazing - my second time but just a wonderful day all around. Ports were also very good - saw lots of salmon in Skagway and Ketchikan, and loved the Totem Heritage Centre in Ketchikan (we saw Totem Bight on our last visit, also excellent).

 

We went to one of the wildlife talks by Kelly, the location guide, and it was also EXCELLENT - highly recommended. She is very entertaining and informative, and her photos are great.

 

All in all, a very good cruise, but we will probably go back to Celebrity and Royal Caribbean after this - the service was just too slow for us.

[Mumsysailor]

Thank you for your review.

 

I must say it does not sound typical in our experience on HAL that service was so slow and I'm sorry that it spoiled your enjoyment of what otherwise sounds like a good trip. I hope you will try HAL again some day.

 

Mumsy.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home

Thank you for your review.

Glad you had a great Alaskan cruise.

Yes -- many of us are noticing slow service in the dining room.

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

[kjeanne2001]

Thanks for your review! Did you book the Pan Pacific through HAL or on your own? What time did you get to the port? Thanks.

[CMDE]

We booked the Pan Pacific independently via our travel agent, quite a bit in advance. Called the bell cap for the bags around 11:15, checked out about 12:15 (we asked for a late checkout until 1) and went through customs, ship documentation, finally getting on the ship about 12:50.

[PathfinderEss]

Welcome back. Thanks for your review and glad you had a nice cruise on the Volendam. We also stay at the Pan Pacific and love it.

[erewhon]

Thank you for taking time to write and post this review of your cruise on the Volendam.

 

Am concerned to read about such slow service in the dining room.

 

Do you recall what room category you booked at the Pan Pacific to enable you to see the Volendam docking??

[CMDE]

We had Harbour View rooms. We specifically had room 1526 and my sister had room 1511. They were both overlooking the pool and we could both see the Volendam. But there is another side to the port that we could just barely see - a Princess ship was there the first day and a Seven Seas on the day we embarked.

 

Incidentally, we also did the Fly Over Canada ride at Canada Place and enjoyed it. It was about $20 and quite fun.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[iho1118]

HI!!

I was on the same cruise as you it seems. Haven't had time to write a review or post photos yet, so I'll be doing that soon. I even got called up during one of the shows (the illusionist's credit card performance) to help out.

 

It was my first time on a cruise so I had nothing to compare it with but generally, I had a good time. Since I live in Vancouver, embarkation day was really simple and convenient for me. But it's true that there wasn't really anyone there to guide you when you got onboard. We stayed in an ocean-view room downstairs on level 1 (RM#1830). I did a little preparation beforehand and studied the deck plans a bit so I knew where we were going.

 

Getting into our rooms and receiving luggage was really nice. The housekeeping stewards did a fabulous job everyday. The animal-towels they folded every night was really nice. I put them up by the window everyday. A little mishap did happen though to my aunt's luggage. She had a small suitcase, that had all her medication and stuff in it, delivered to the wrong room so we had to call Front Office and get that sorted out and find it. Fortunately, it was delivered to someone else's room on our floor and wasn't lost in transit.

 

Really liked the shore excursions, went to one in all 3 ports. Yes, the sailings were quite smooth except for that one night. My parents didn't feel so well because of that but it didn't affect me.

 

Your comment about the dining room service is quite true. I had open seating dining so we weren't limited to a time frame but generally went there everyday around 5.45-6.00ish. However, when we went there was always somewhere there to take us to our table. I got familiarized with one of the attendants that "book" our table at the entrance too because he really liked my camera. We did find the service a bit slow. On average, it did take us almost 2 hours for the meal and sometimes we had to call our server to refill the water. There were 3 nights in particular that seemed slower than the rest.

1) the 1st night after leaving Vancouver - our server said it's because everyone came at the same time

2) 1st formal night - we had to run to get to the Frans Hans Lounge on time for the Captain's Toast (really wanted to see it because it was my first cruise)

3) the last night - don't know why, but did take the time to enjoy the dolphins swimming behind us (got a lot of photos from that).

 

I will be writing more about my first cruise later on in another thread.

[erewhon]

We had Harbour View rooms. We specifically had room 1526 and my sister had room 1511. They were both overlooking the pool and we could both see the Volendam. But there is another side to the port that we could just barely see - a Princess ship was there the first day and a Seven Seas on the day we embarked.

 

Incidentally, we also did the Fly Over Canada ride at Canada Place and enjoyed it. It was about $20 and quite fun.

 

Thank you for your reply.

 

Where is the Fly Over Canada ride located?

[CMDE]

The Fly Over Canada Ride is right at Canada Place, at street level. If you walk along the walkway you will see it. We went in the evening and it was not crowded.

[CMDE]

I forgot to mention a neat thing that happened at Skagway. Close to when we were leaving at 10 pm, a "flash mob" of young people appeared on the dock dancing, and they danced without music for about an hour down the dock. Really cute - sometimes square dancing, sometimes just dancing, for about an hour.

[erewhon]

The Fly Over Canada Ride is right at Canada Place, at street level. If you walk along the walkway you will see it. We went in the evening and it was not crowded.

 

Thank you for this information.

[Alison12]

Hi. Looking at booking this cruise for next July. I have been researching the excursions so that I know the expense. However I have been unable to find out the cost of the Tracy Arm excursion that HAL organise. Can you help. Also after you get dropped in Juneau will there be time to go to the Mendenhall Glacier. Thanks

[RuthC]

Also after you get dropped in Juneau will there be time to go to the Mendenhall Glacier. Thanks

Since the ship doesn't sail until 10:00 PM, there should be time to go out to Mendenhall, but are you sure you will have the energy to do that?

I don't know when the shore excursion returns to Juneau, but I remember that it's late afternoon, after a long day in the fresh air.

There is a bus to Mendenhall, but I know that stops at an early hour. If it is still running when the tour gets back, you could take that out there, but would definitely need a taxi back. The Ranger station closes at some point, too.

 

If you are going in July, there should be some decent daylight.

 

I know I haven't given you much information, but there are a few things here to research. The answers to such things as timing of the last bus out, time the Ranger Station closes may be posted on the Alaska board. Check over there, too.

 

I booked this cruise for next August for the specific reason that I want to take the Tracy Arm shore excursion.

[iho1118]

Hi. Looking at booking this cruise for next July. I have been researching the excursions so that I know the expense. However I have been unable to find out the cost of the Tracy Arm excursion that HAL organise. Can you help. Also after you get dropped in Juneau will there be time to go to the Mendenhall Glacier. Thanks

 

Hi Alison12,

 

You are interested in the Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer in Juneau right? According to the Shore Excursion brochure from my Aug 21st trip, it's around $215 for an adult and $150 for a child. It's a 5 3/4 hour excursion that departs at 9:15am (approx) directly from ship side. The departure time might be different when you go though.

 

The little description in the brochure:

"An exclusive opportunity to see the very best of the Tracy Arm Wilderness Area. Go where the cruise ship cannot go and explore the 4,000 year old fjords, glaciers & icebergs. Excellent opportunity to see wildlife. Must bring passport. Tour departs directly from ship-side."

 

You should have plenty of time after the Tracy Arm tour, it's a 5 3/4 hour tour so you should be back at Juneau around 3pm-ish. If it's the same next year as this year, the ship is in port until 10:30pm and all aboard is probably 9pm. There's a couple excursions to Mendenhall Glacier either by plane, helicopter, hike, river float, bus that happens in the middle of the day.

 

I recommend the Mendenhall glacier by helicopter and guided walk. I went on it and it was very nice. It was a very scenic flight both ways and you might be able to see a few mountain goats along the way too.