Opinions on Volendam

[trickylibrarian]

seacruise9, we are from suburban Chicagoland and will be on that cruise as well.  

[shippmates]

I do not think Holland is thinking about selling the Volendam.  It is going into drydock in October and will be back in service for the 42 day Med America sailing.  That will be my first sailing on her and looking forward to seeing the ship.  I do enjoy the smaller ships more so than the larger one.  The Rotterdam was a beautiful ship and I did enjoy my sailing on her.

[kazu]

On 4/9/2024 at 11:04 AM, Kathyrd said:

Are there stand alone showers in the Neptune suites?

 

No, it doesn’t.  the shower is the typical shower in a bathtub.

everything else on that ship in those suites has been updated but I suspect the plumbing would have been too tricky or cost prohibitive to do.

They are still nice cabins - much bigger than the newer ships - like many of the cabins on this ship.

 

 

[Susanmaz]

Mcrcruiser - we sailed on the newer, Pinnacle class Konigsdam two years ago,and absolutely hated it. It was too big, with too many passengers and nowhere to sit or get out of the way.  Guest services had lines 20 people long at all times and had nowhere to sit while waiting. Anytime dining had 45 minute waits. Never had an opportunity to spend time in the Crows Nest. We will never sail on any ship with 300 or more passengers on ant line.

[Dancing Shoes]

Sailed on her in 2018, Alaska.  We really like the covered promenade deck and enjoyed our ocean view room.  Thinking she was going to go out of service at some point we booked the Canda/New England trip for August 2024.  Can't wait.  

[Cruising-along]

Just disembarked on Saturday after sailing her for 94 days on the Grand Australia/NZ.  On that cruise we were kept so busy with lectures, port talks, classes and much more, that we didn't miss the extras that the larger ships have such as more restaurants and entertainment.  What we did miss were more electrical outlets in our cabin. DH uses a cpap and the Volendam doesn't have outlets by the bed.  So we had an extension cord going from the bed, across the ceiling (with magnetic hooks) to the outlets on the desk.  

 

[terrydtx]

On 4/8/2024 at 12:13 AM, kelliebiz said:

One thing about Volendam is that there are no verandah cabins. The ship does have lanai cabins where your back door opens right onto the lower promenade deck where the public is walking their laps. I’ve not stayed in one of these cabins but it would feel like a loss of privacy to me. 
 

I really enjoy everything about the smaller size of this ship and it is older but nothing that relates to the age is an obvious deterrent for me. Others may have different opinions of course. 

Not totally true, the Volendam does have verandah cabins called Vista Suites on deck 6. We are booked in one in August from Boston to Montreal. We love the smaller ships of HAL, no crowds, fewer kids and exceptional service. 

 

The smaller Volendam is perfectly suited for the NE/Canada cruises as she can get into ports the bigger ships can't. 

Edited April 12 by terrydtx

[terrydtx]

8 hours ago, Dancing Shoes said:

thinking she was going to go out of service at some point we booked the Canda/New England trip for August 2024. 

Are you on the August 20th Boston to Montreal cruise with us?

[kelliebiz]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Not totally true, the Volendam does have verandah cabins called Vista Suites on deck 6. We are booked in one in August from Boston to Montreal. We love the smaller ships of HAL, no crowds, fewer kids and exceptional service. 

 

Very true. When I made my comment I was considering verandah suites as a different class than mere verandah cabins. 

[Fred321]

14 hours ago, Susanmaz said:

Mcrcruiser - we sailed on the newer, Pinnacle class Konigsdam two years ago,and absolutely hated it. It was too big, with too many passengers and nowhere to sit or get out of the way.  Guest services had lines 20 people long at all times and had nowhere to sit while waiting. Anytime dining had 45 minute waits. Never had an opportunity to spend time in the Crows Nest. We will never sail on any ship with 300 or more passengers on ant line.

Not sure what you meant to say in the last sentence but I agree with your overall opinion of the new builds. We have had multiple trips the Koningsdam and the new Rotterdam and will not be going back to any of them, MDR experience is terrible whether you are in anytime or fixed. The dining room is a madhouse with the waiters running back and forth way too much and the room extremely noisy. No chance to have a quiet conversation.

Staterooms seem to have no soundproofing. Have been in a number of Vista suites and can always hear the TV next door and sometimes even the conversations.

Just got off the Volendam in an Ocean View room for 94 days and it was great. Lots of room to sit and read, they haven't ruined the Crows Nest by trying to turn it into a multipurpose room. Just a nice relaxed feeling around the ship. 

Vista class is the largest HAL ship we would consider but would always opt for the R class if available.

[mcrcruiser]

13 minutes ago, Fred321 said:

Not sure what you meant to say in the last sentence but I agree with your overall opinion of the new builds. We have had multiple trips the Koningsdam and the new Rotterdam and will not be going back to any of them, MDR experience is terrible whether you are in anytime or fixed. The dining room is a madhouse with the waiters running back and forth way too much and the room extremely noisy. No chance to have a quiet conversation.

Staterooms seem to have no soundproofing. Have been in a number of Vista suites and can always hear the TV next door and sometimes even the conversations.

Just got off the Volendam in an Ocean View room for 94 days and it was great. Lots of room to sit and read, they haven't ruined the Crows Nest by trying to turn it into a multipurpose room. Just a nice relaxed feeling around the ship. 

Vista class is the largest HAL ship we would consider but would always opt for the R class if available.

We never have heard any  noise coming from other staterooms & we sail only on Koningsdam because we live here in San Diego , We have dine multiple voyages on Kdam & the dining room did not seem any noisier  than any other ships .in fact we had on  average great service  in the MDR . Just once we saw a problem is when over the Chistmas holiday & understaffed with 500 kids on board when HAL  had a sale kids sail free . BTW that can happen to any of HAL's ships that HAL euns the kids sail free sale 

 

 In the future HAL will not have small ships as long a CCL own them .  The move in the cruise business is big is better . Only the high end cruise lines will have the smaller ships like Seaboen , Viking ie 

Edited April 12 by mcrcruiser

[mcrcruiser]

Yes people should choose what type of cabin  & ship fits   their wants & needs  ;but ,to think HAL under Carnival Corp  ownership will have small ships in the future is dreaming  . Princess just launched Sun Princess ,a new class of liquid Natural Gas .The Ship is about 177.000 tons  .The older & less efficient ships are headed to the  scrap yards as they phase them out .This is the future of mass market cruising at a decent price  competing well with land vacations . Look at the record of Icon of the Seas .since that monster ship of 250,000 gross tons jas been sailing ,it is full at the highest prices ever . That ship can carry over 8000  guests 

 

 

[mcrcruiser]

imo the bottem line is if you want small ship environment in the future then you will be  sailing on the  higher end lines like Seaborn  .Most people will  cintinue to sail on the larger & mega sized ships of the future  ,Even CCL for  their Carnival band  has ordered new larger ships  

 

We can understand the desire for smaller ships . Those which can get into the smaller ports of call & stay for 2 or 3 days  with far less people . But ,you will have to pay a lot more money for that  style of cruising . 

 

 

 

 

[terrydtx]

9 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

imo the bottem line is if you want small ship environment in the future then you will be  sailing on the  higher end lines like Seaborn  .Most people will  cintinue to sail on the larger & mega sized ships of the future  ,Even CCL for  their Carnival band  has ordered new larger ships  

 

We can understand the desire for smaller ships . Those which can get into the smaller ports of call & stay for 2 or 3 days  with far less people . But ,you will have to pay a lot more money for that  style of cruising . 

 

 

 

 

Oceania has much smaller ships and they are not that much more expensive than Celebrity and Princess. We are booked on the Oceania Marina for an 18 day cruise for $200PP less than the 14 day Celebrity cruise that was canceled after we booked.

[kazu]

4 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

we sail only on Koningsdam because we live here in San Diego , We have dine multiple voyages on Kdam & the dining room did not seem any noisier  than any other ships

 

Since you only sail Koningsdam now, your experience in MDR’s of the other ships is somewhat limited.

 

All of the Pinnacle Class ships’ MDR’s are VERY loud.  Much louder and noisier than the other ships in the fleet.  Fixed dining is not as bad but open dining is horrific.  We could barely hear the person next to us at the Mariner’s reception.  The sound just reverberates like an echo chamber.

 

I have been on Koningsdam for 3 segments B2B2B and Rotterdam for a longer cruise and my experience was the same.  Dining rooms are much quieter on the other ships in my experience.

 

I will not cruise on a Pinnacle Class ship unless I have Club Orange and can use that dining room.  

 

[Fred321]

Don't expect HAL to build or purchase small ships in the future. CEO was quite clear that wasn't in his plans on last year's world cruise and this year's Australia/NZ. Completely understand the decision simply saying what I will do. We have over 1000 actual sea days on HAL and enjoy the service and the experience but at some point if the product changes enough we'll change our actions as well. Right now we are lucky enough to be able to choose what fits us best.

 

[terrydtx]

2 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Since you only sail Koningsdam now, your experience in MDR’s of the other ships is somewhat limited.

 

All of the Pinnacle Class ships’ MDR’s are VERY loud.  Much louder and noisier than the other ships in the fleet.  Fixed dining is not as bad but open dining is horrific.  We could barely hear the person next to us at the Mariner’s reception.  The sound just reverberates like an echo chamber.

 

I have been on Koningsdam for 3 segments B2B2B and Rotterdam for a longer cruise and my experience was the same.  Dining rooms are much quieter on the other ships in my experience.

 

I will not cruise on a Pinnacle Class ship unless I have Club Orange and can use that dining room.  

 

I agree with you about only sailing on the PC ships with CO. Last November on the Koningsdam we had CO and every night the line to enter the MDR was running down the hall past the CO dining room. We were so glad we had CO. The food and service also seemed to be much better than the MDR.

Edited April 12 by terrydtx

[mcrcruiser]

2 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Since you only sail Koningsdam now, your experience in MDR’s of the other ships is somewhat limited.

 

All of the Pinnacle Class ships’ MDR’s are VERY loud.  Much louder and noisier than the other ships in the fleet.  Fixed dining is not as bad but open dining is horrific.  We could barely hear the person next to us at the Mariner’s reception.  The sound just reverberates like an echo chamber.

 

I have been on Koningsdam for 3 segments B2B2B and Rotterdam for a longer cruise and my experience was the same.  Dining rooms are much quieter on the other ships in my experience.

 

I will not cruise on a Pinnacle Class ship unless I have Club Orange and can use that dining room.  

 

In  the past we sailed on Ryndam ,Osterdam  & Eurodam . Truly I did not notice a huge  difference in the MDR acoustics  . We had open seating dining ion  that pre Christmas cruise  on Koningsdam  & there was no problem in holding a conversation . Some people's hearing is different thsn others is the inly thing that comes to mind .

[kazu]

2 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I agree with you about only sailing the PC ships with CO. Last November on the Koningsdam we had CO and every night the line to enter the MDR was running down the hall past the CO dining room. We were so glad we had CO. 

 

It was the same on my K cruise.  Rotterdam seemed more civilized but just the same, the lines were there.  I only waited once for 5 minutes for CO on both ships.

 

Much quieter and far more personal.  

[mcrcruiser]

3 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I agree with you about only sailing on the PC ships with CO. Last November on the Koningsdam we had CO and every night the line to enter the MDR was running down the hall past the CO dining room. We were so glad we had CO. The food and service also seemed to be much better than the MDR.

All that is true for open seating . The cruise line needs to get their act together but mthat is not that uncommon on other lines as well . The CO dining room is small & that is the primary reason for the sound levels .It also has low ceiling & most likely a  acoustic material 

[kazu]

16 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

In  the past we sailed on Ryndam ,Osterdam  & Eurodam . Truly I did not notice a huge  difference in the MDR acoustics  . We had open seating dining ion  that pre Christmas cruise  on Koningsdam  & there was no problem in holding a conversation . Some people's hearing is different thsn others is the inly thing that comes to mind .

 

LOL my hearing is very sharp.  Perhaps that’s the issue.  I don’t like a lot of noise.  My hearing hasn’t dulled yet. 😉 

 

Each to their own.  I didn’t hear anyone argue at our table about the intolerable noise.  We were all in agreement and said thank heavens we have CO.

I was on the Koningsdam for 19 days and the Roterdam for 15.  I only went to the MDR a very few times and after a lunch, dinner and Mariner’s reception I was one and done.

[Dancing Shoes]

Yes.  I have posted on the roll call,,,,,terrydtx

Edited April 14 by Dancing Shoes

[HappyInVan]

I sailed on the V last August in Vista suite AA6123.. Generally, I was pleased by the experience. More intimate, more casual seating than the new ships. Of course, everything was smaller. The pool, the Lido, the theater. 

 

I was surprised by the amount of creaking roof panels in my room, when the ship sailed open waters north of Haida Gawaii. Would not sail that cabin again.

[powlan]

7 days on Zaandam in May to Alaska, 42 Days on Volandam in November TA, 25 days on Volandam in July (2025) Boston to Boston r/t, 30 days on Volandam in November (2025) Amazon. We think that HAL is the best value for the money and the R ships the most fun in the fleet. We've done Seabourn, Regent, Crystal, Oceania, etc  and find that HAL is the best for us. Don't hesitate at all. You'll love it.

 

 

[mcrcruiser]

On 4/12/2024 at 3:50 PM, kazu said:

 

LOL my hearing is very sharp.  Perhaps that’s the issue.  I don’t like a lot of noise.  My hearing hasn’t dulled yet. 😉 

 

Each to their own.  I didn’t hear anyone argue at our table about the intolerable noise.  We were all in agreement and said thank heavens we have CO.

I was on the Koningsdam for 19 days and the Roterdam for 15.  I only went to the MDR a very few times and after a lunch, dinner and Mariner’s reception I was one and done.

True that CO is much quieter  because it is a lot smaller restaurant  than the MDR & the same is true in land based restaurant sizes ,The only problem is the Club Orange sells out rather quickly as experienced people know not just the dining benefit but the cabin upgrade & priority boarding & rendering & a special line at customer relations . Simple answer is " whats not to like "