Volendam Disapointment

[worldlady]

Just got off my first cruise on the Volendam, always wanted to try this ship. Was so disappointed to find our ocean view room didn’t have a refrigerator! And only one electric outlet at the vanity, none by the bed so I can plug in my iPad before going to sleep. The cabin was nice enough otherwise, lots of closet space. Didn’t much like the crows nest, no game tables near the windows. I really need a refer so I can keep extra ice as can’t stand room temperature water. Is there any way to find out if your cabin choice has a refer before booking? Hope to hear from fellow cruisers.

[cbr663]

Cabin reviews on Youtube can often uncover issues like these.

[kazu]

A good look at the deck plans often reveals a lot.  Both of the R class ships (Volendam & Zaandam) only have fridges in verandah category and above.  You can order one though at a nominal charge.

 

To the best of my knowledge and recollection all of the other ships have refrigerators in all cabin categories.

[Moriah]

Of course you can "find out" - all the info on what's in the cabins is readily available and right on the website.  The Volendam is an older ship, from an "age" when a refrigerator was not standard in every cabin.  On the good side, your ocean view cabin was significantly bigger than those on Pinnacle class ships where you have a fridge, but much less storage, and much less room to move around. I love Volendam - and I'll be so sorry when (I'm assuming it's inevitable) it leaves the fleet and Vista class ships are considered "small."  I still miss Veendam and Maasdam! 

[AKJonesy]

Try Halfacts.com as well

[RuthC]

You say you don't care for water at room temperature. I don't blame you for that! Wasn't there an ice bucket in your cabin?
On the R-class, and old S-class ships, I always got ice twice a day. As a matter of fact, I always get ice twice a day on ships that have a fridge in my cabin. The morning ice definitely lasts until I leave for cocktail time, and the evening ice lasts well enough until morning meds. 

[tartanmom]

Can I ask how easy it is to find a chair on the promenade deck on this ship? Our fave ship is sister ship Zaandam but on that ship there are no lanai cabins with reserved chairs. Our favorite thing to do, even with having a balcony, is to sit on the promenade deck for a few hours each day and read. We just got off the Zaandam Holiday 2023 cruise and never had an issue finding chairs even when there were 5 of us wanting to sit together. I'm trying to plan for our 2024 cruise and unfortunately the Zaandam itinerary doesn't work well for us but Volendam does. I'd be happy to try a lanai cabin but my husband says no so the availability of promenade chairs will play a big role in our decision. 

[MISTER 67]

13 minutes ago, tartanmom said:

Can I ask how easy it is to find a chair on the promenade deck on this ship? Our fave ship is sister ship Zaandam but on that ship there are no lanai cabins with reserved chairs. Our favorite thing to do, even with having a balcony, is to sit on the promenade deck for a few hours each day and read. We just got off the Zaandam Holiday 2023 cruise and never had an issue finding chairs even when there were 5 of us wanting to sit together. I'm trying to plan for our 2024 cruise and unfortunately the Zaandam itinerary doesn't work well for us but Volendam does. I'd be happy to try a lanai cabin but my husband says no so the availability of promenade chairs will play a big role in our decision. 

Holland America except for the new ships always had the best promenade decks on the high seas, they are complete wrap arounds and by far the best place to read a good book while watching the ocean pass by. 
IMHO the decision to add lanai cabins on some of the ships was pure greed and a terrible idea.

Edited January 7 by MISTER 67

[tartanmom]

8 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

Holland America except for the new ships always had the best promenade decks on the high seas, they are complete wrap arounds and by far the best place to read a good book while watching the ocean pass by. 
IMHO the decision to add lanai cabins on some of the ships was pure greed and a terrible idea.

Agree. And I’m not a fan of ships with more then 1700 passengers so my options are starting to get extremely limited. 

[RuthC]

30 minutes ago, tartanmom said:

Can I ask how easy it is to find a chair on the promenade deck on this ship?

If you are looking for five chairs together, that is going to be tough. If you are looking for just one or two chairs, then that will be a lot easier. 

At every doorway, the first two chairs on each side should be open to anyone; the cabins each side of the doorway are not lanai. There will be a string of chairs in front of the other non-lanai cabins, although they may have some obstructed views. 
At the forward elevator area, by the atrium, there should be some offices on each side. The loungers there should also be open to anyone. 

I travel as a solo, and never had a problem finding an available lounger on any ship with lanai cabins. 

[OlsSalt]

8 minutes ago, tartanmom said:

Agree. And I’m not a fan of ships with more then 1700 passengers so my options are starting to get extremely limited. 

 

HAL Vista ships (Nordam, Oosterdam etc) still have wonderful  wide teak promenades and plenty of deck chairs, while providing still some of the better features of the smaller ships.

 

They still remain safe bets for those of us  in love with HAL's older smaller ships. MDR not as intimate which is one drawback, but late fixed dining still retains much of the smaller ship graciousness.

 

Those of us who also remember when the Vista ships were the "big new ones". Passenger numbers are getting up there, but it never felt crowded and the libraries are coming back in. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

HAL Vista ships (Nordam, Oosterdam etc) still have wonderful  wide teak promenades and plenty of deck chairs, while providing still some of the better features of the smaller ships.

 

They still remain safe bets for those of us  in love with HAL's older smaller ships. MDR not as intimate which is one drawback, but late fixed dining still retains much of the smaller ship graciousness.

 

Those of us who also remember when the Vista ships were the "big new ones". Passenger numbers are getting up there, but it never felt crowded and the libraries are coming back in. 

 

I love the vistas! I've been on 3 of HAL's 4 and both of Cunard's vistas. For me, the only thing that's better about the larger ships is Tamarind. I like the R's, too, but wish they had a thalassotherapy pool.

[jc foster]

The HH website states that you can rent a refrigerator on the Volendam for $2 per day.

[crystalspin]

51 minutes ago, jc foster said:

The HH website states that you can rent a refrigerator on the Volendam for $2 per day.

If OP had asked their Steward, it might have saved the vacation.

[worldlady]

Thank you for telling me about renting frig. I definitely would have done that. Also thanks to all my fellow cruisers for responding to my post.

[KU1and2]

21 hours ago, worldlady said:

Just got off my first cruise on the Volendam, always wanted to try this ship. Was so disappointed to find our ocean view room didn’t have a refrigerator! And only one electric outlet at the vanity, none by the bed so I can plug in my iPad before going to sleep. The cabin was nice enough otherwise, lots of closet space. Didn’t much like the crows nest, no game tables near the windows. I really need a refer so I can keep extra ice as can’t stand room temperature water. Is there any way to find out if your cabin choice has a refer before booking? Hope to hear from fellow cruisers.

We love the Volendam.  If you want a mini fridge, you just need to contact Ship's services -- either before your cruise or on-board and they will have one delivered.  HOWEVER, they used to charge $2.50 per day -- but for us it is well worth it to keep my husband's insulin cold.

[whogo]

23 hours ago, worldlady said:

And only one electric outlet at the vanity, none by the bed so I can plug in my iPad before going to sleep.

The ship would have provided a multi-outlet power strip.

[sambamama]

With insulin, it's possible they might have waived the refrigerator cost. 

This is what's great about Cruise Critic - you can find out things like renting refrigerators, bad cabins, privates tours, how to tender, etc. That's how I found out to rent a refrigerator. 

[crystalspin]

42 minutes ago, sambamama said:

With insulin, it's possible they might have waived the refrigerator cost. 

This is what's great about Cruise Critic - you can find out things like renting refrigerators, bad cabins, privates tours, how to tender, etc. That's how I found out to rent a refrigerator. 

If you tell them it is for insulin or other medications, they want you to store them in the infirmary! Because the room/rental fridges are really just coolers and do not get as cold as home refrigerators.

 

ETA: not very convenient!

 

Edited January 8 by crystalspin

[KU1and2]

34 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

If you tell them it is for insulin or other medications, they want you to store them in the infirmary! Because the room/rental fridges are really just coolers and do not get as cold as home refrigerators.

 

ETA: not very convenient!

 

Our last cruise we did tell them it was for insulin but they did not waive the cost.  Still very inexpensive.  True they are only "coolers", but we take a thermometer for the cooler, and we keep the ice bucket full of ice uncovered in the cooler which keeps the temperature about 39-47 degree F. and the room stewards fill the ice twice a day.

 

Keeping the insulin at the medical center did not work for us -- as their hours are so short and inconsistent!  We found a way to make it work!