LA to Sydney/South Pacific Review

[gregdude]

Hi all cruisers,

 

I was on the Voldendam starting September 25 that ended up in Sydney after a forty-two day cruise. We visited three ports in Hawaii, American Samoa, Western Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Isle of Pines, New Caledonia, all the ports on the east coast of New Zealand, Tasmania, Melbourne and eventually Sydney.

 

With the exception of having to miss Milford Sound because of high winds and seas, we made all ports on this cruise.

 

The Volendam is a nice size ship, is in relatively good shape, but we did have some engineering problems. My cabin was on the main deck, deck 3, immediately next to an exit onto the promenade deck area (this is a great location on this ship). If you are cruising from Auckland to Sydney a balcony is a waste of money (too cold and windy). An outside cabin with access to the promenade is best.

 

I organized a Meet and Greet through HAL and found them to be very helpful. Ours took place the first full sea day after leaving LA. The ship provided coffee, tea, and cookies up in the crows nest. When I arrived an area had been roped off and all was ready. One of the passengers who boarded in Auckland did the same thing and had the same experience (way to go HAL). This is a great activity to do if you are taking a cruise and use this site. All you need to do is call ship services and and work with a HAL agent to make it happen.

 

The cabins are certainly dated, but lots of storage space helped make things comfortable. The TV/DVD was great, but bring your own DVD's if you plan to watch movies in your cabin. I brought my MacBook with me and found that I was able to access the wireless network from my cabin. If you plan to e-mail folks at home bringing your own computer is a must. Using the computers in the lounge eats up a lot of Internet time. Being able to compose e-mails off line and then logging in saved 15-20 minutes per session! Over 42 days I used 250 minutes and I e-mailed every day. The $12.00 blue laundry bag worked extremely well for me. After all you can't bring enough cloths for a 42 day cruise so laundry is a potentially big issue. When I had a bag full I would put it on the bed, complete the provided form and the next day (roughly 24 hours) my things were back, folded in in tissue paper in a basket (or on hangers for shirts and pants). Of course the blue bag is not very big, but you can stuff a lot in if you work at it. A couple would need two bags (I did seven bags full in roughly 5.5 weeks.

 

I had the anytime dining option and found it to be exceptionally good. As a solo traveler I was concerned about this option, but found it to be the only way to go. I never made a reservation, just showed up and was seated immediately every time. On a number of occasions I went with someone else and we were both seated immediately (I tended to eat between 6:30 and 7:30 PM each night). As the trip progressed I started eating in the Lido for dinner more often, this is another great option since you have the opportunity to individualize you choices among all of the options while enjoying the same selection of items from the dinning room (you could select any variety of meat, vegetables, and starch items and in any quantity you want rather than simply except a standard plate provided in the dinning room). It was also very nice to meet new people each night, some you may enjoy eating with and some you don't really want to eat with again!

 

Food quality was much better than RCI. The selection was better, but the quality was impressive compared to my experiences on Adventure of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas on RCI. The Liddo food at breakfast and lunch was impressive and fresh. The grill by the Liddo pool provided fresh to order hamburgers, fries, hotdogs that were so good the line was often ten minutes long. My only food disappointment was the mac and cheese (not what I expected).

 

As everyone has said the service aboard the Volendam is excellent. Room service was quick and the variety of options much better than most other cruise lines. Waiters and restaurant staff were all very friendly and willing to do whatever they could to assist passengers (very attentive to the older passengers particularly in the Liddo).

 

Entertainment was better than expected. I was concerned that with a 42 day cruise we would simply see the same shows four of five times, not so. Some of the shows were better than others, but not bad at all. The 9:00 PM show time works very well if you eat between 6:30 and 7:00 PM.

 

Ports of call were all different and all well planned visits. Most of the ports in New Zealand and Australia provided complementary transportation into town, a nice feature. Most of the HAL excursions were good, but two I would not recommend (Lord of Rings in Wellington is a waste of money, and the Glow Worm Cave tour requires a four hour drive and the visit was short and very cramped with four bus loads arriving at the same time). The Gannet Colony in Napier is a must for anyone who enjoys wildlife (simply amazing to see 4000 birds from four feet away). The High Country explorer in Christchurch is beautiful and "exciting"!

 

The ship, as mention before, had some engineering problems. As we left Dunedin, about ten miles out at sea, we lost all electrical power and engines. Fortunately it was not dark yet, so the loss of lights was not a big problem, but sitting without power out at sea was not as much fun. After about fifteen minutes the power came back and off we went, but this kind of thing should not happen.

 

The most amazing part of this trip was sea conditions. Between LA and Sydney (over 10,000 miles of ocean) we only had one day (about 30 hours) of uncomfortable seas. As we left New Zealand and began to cross the Tasman Sea things got very rough. Bottles in the duty free shop went flying, shelves in the gift shop gave way, and most of us were on seasick medication. The Volendam rides well in most seas, but this was more than normal and so we were moving up and down quite a bit.

 

All in all I would have to say that HAL does a good job. Food was better than expected as was entertainment. The ship is in reasonably good condition, although cabins need some help, excursions were well run, but some were certainly better than others. New Zealand and Australia are great places to visit by ship and of course the islands of the South Pacific are a real experience.

 

Thank you HAL for a great cruise experienced

 

I hope this is helpful to those planning a cruise down under.

 

GregDude

[Druke I]

Thanks for your review.

 

We sailed San Francisco to Sydney 9-00 on Sky Princess' last voyage as a Princess ship, and thoroughly enjoyed the trip, although the itinerary was somewhat different than yours and was only 27 nights.

 

We've crossed the Tasman three times on different trips, and perhaps we are just lucky, but it has been relatively smooth each time.

[woody73]

GregDude - nice review, thanks.

 

What were some of the entertainment highlights?

 

Woody

[Sir PMP]

Thks for the review, I was on the same cruise butgot off in Auckland, the whole voyage was fabulous, great captain and crew, and the stop at Ile de Pins was fabulous...

[hammybee]

Glad to hear you had a good experience. It also sounds like your personality meshed well with meeting new people, every night. Thank you for taking the time to share your cruise with us.

[Down-Unders]

Hi all cruisers,

 

I was on the Voldendam starting September 25 that ended up in Sydney after a forty-two day cruise. We visited three ports in Hawaii, American Samoa, Western Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Isle of Pines, New Caledonia, all the ports on the east coast of New Zealand, Tasmania, Melbourne and eventually Sydney.

 

With the exception of having to miss Milford Sound because of high winds and seas, we made all ports on this cruise.

 

The Volendam is a nice size ship, is in relatively good shape, but we did have some engineering problems. My cabin was on the main deck, deck 3, immediately next to an exit onto the promenade deck area (this is a great location on this ship). If you are cruising from Auckland to Sydney a balcony is a waste of money (too cold and windy). An outside cabin with access to the promenade is best.

 

I organized a Meet and Greet through HAL and found them to be very helpful. Ours took place the first full sea day after leaving LA. The ship provided coffee, tea, and cookies up in the crows nest. When I arrived an area had been roped off and all was ready. One of the passengers who boarded in Auckland did the same thing and had the same experience (way to go HAL). This is a great activity to do if you are taking a cruise and use this site. All you need to do is call ship services and and work with a HAL agent to make it happen.

 

The cabins are certainly dated, but lots of storage space helped make

 

 

 

things comfortable. The TV/DVD was great, but bring your own DVD's if you plan to watch movies in your cabin. I brought my MacBook with me and found that I was able to access the wireless network from my cabin. If you plan to e-mail folks at home bringing your own computer is a must. Using the computers in the lounge eats up a lot of Internet time. Being able to compose e-mails off line and then logging in saved 15-20 minutes per session! Over 42 days I used 250 minutes and I e-mailed every day. The $12.00 blue laundry bag worked extremely well for me. After all you can't bring enough cloths for a 42 day cruise so laundry is a potentially big issue. When I had a bag full I would put it on the bed, complete the provided form and the next day (roughly 24 hours) my things were back, folded in in tissue paper in a basket (or on hangers for shirts and pants). Of course the blue bag is not very big, but you can stuff a lot in if you work at it. A couple would need two bags (I did seven bags full in roughly 5.5 weeks.

 

I had the anytime dining option and found it to be exceptionally good. As a solo traveler I was concerned about this option, but found it to be the only way to go. I never made a reservation, just showed up and was seated immediately every time. On a number of occasions I went with someone else and we were both seated immediately (I tended to eat between 6:30 and 7:30 PM each night). As the trip progressed I started eating in the Lido for dinner more often, this is another great option since you have the opportunity to individualize you choices among all of the options while enjoying the same selection of items from the dinning room (you could select any variety of meat, vegetables, and starch items and in any quantity you want rather than simply except a standard plate provided in the dinning room). It was also very nice to meet new people each night, some you may enjoy eating with and some you don't really want to eat with again!

 

Food quality was much better than RCI. The selection was better, but the quality was impressive compared to my experiences on Adventure of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas on RCI. The Liddo food at breakfast and lunch was impressive and fresh. The grill by the Liddo pool provided fresh to order hamburgers, fries, hotdogs that were so good the line was often ten minutes long. My only food disappointment was the mac and cheese (not what I expected).

 

As everyone has said the service aboard the Volendam is excellent. Room service was quick and the variety of options much better than most other cruise lines. Waiters and restaurant staff were all very friendly and willing to do whatever they could to assist passengers (very attentive to the older passengers particularly in the Liddo).

 

Entertainment was better than expected. I was concerned that with a 42 day cruise we would simply see the same shows four of five times, not so. Some of the shows were better than others, but not bad at all. The 9:00 PM show time works very well if you eat between 6:30 and 7:00 PM.

 

Ports of call were all different and all well planned visits. Most of the ports in New Zealand and Australia provided complementary transportation into town, a nice feature. Most of the HAL excursions were good, but two I would not recommend (Lord of Rings in Wellington is a waste of money, and the Glow Worm Cave tour requires a four hour drive and the visit was short and very cramped with four bus loads arriving at the same time). The Gannet Colony in Napier is a must for anyone who enjoys wildlife (simply amazing to see 4000 birds from four feet away). The High Country explorer in Christchurch is beautiful and "exciting"!

 

The ship, as mention before, had some engineering problems. As we left Dunedin, about ten miles out at sea, we lost all electrical power and engines. Fortunately it was not dark yet, so the loss of lights was not a big problem, but sitting without power out at sea was not as much fun. After about fifteen minutes the power came back and off we went, but this kind of thing should not happen.

 

The most amazing part of this trip was sea conditions. Between LA and Sydney (over 10,000 miles of ocean) we only had one day (about 30 hours) of uncomfortable seas. As we left New Zealand and began to cross the Tasman Sea things got very rough. Bottles in the duty free shop went flying, shelves in the gift shop gave way, and most of us were on seasick medication. The Volendam rides well in most seas, but this was more than normal and so we were moving up and down quite a bit.

 

All in all I would have to say that HAL does a good job. Food was better than expected as was entertainment. The ship is in reasonably good condition, although cabins need some help, excursions were well run, but some were certainly better than others. New Zealand and Australia are great places to visit by ship and of course the islands of the South Pacific are a real experience.

 

Thank you HAL for a great cruise experienced

 

I hope this is helpful to those planning a cruise down under.

 

GregDude

 

 

Enjoyed your review, we are in a Balcony in January hope it is not too cold. What was the dress code like? hope they kept jeans out of the Dining Room for dinner, did people dress up on formal nights and is the Pinnicle Grill still 20dollars? :):)

[gozzieboy]

Hi Greg Thanks for that review. Glad you enjoyed your trip Gozzieboy

[seafun]

I'm jealous -- I wish I could take that much time off work at one time... (wistful sigh) :o

Thanks for the balanced review. I was on a wonderful Southern Caribbean cruise on the Volendam two years ago and enjoyed her very much -- like you said, very attentive staff and great food. :)

And that pesky Tasman sea... I've heard several people had a bouncy passage there, lol.

Thanks for your posting!

[Robin7]

Enjoyed your review, we are in a Balcony in January hope it is not too cold. What was the dress code like? hope they kept jeans out of the Dining Room for dinner, did people dress up on formal nights and is the Pinnicle Grill still 20dollars? :):)

 

I was on Greg's Auckland-Sydney leg. (Hi, Greg!) I can tell you the 5:45 fixed seating for dinner had LOTS of jeans on 'smart casual' nights.

 

Formal nights seemed more formal to me than most of the other cruises we've been on. We had about half tuxedos (including my husband and his brother), maybe more. We also only had three formal nights when our docs said four. Not sure which one they dropped.

 

My daily programs list a $20 cover charge for the Pinnacle. (We did not eat there.)

 

Robin

[Down-Unders]

I was on Greg's Auckland-Sydney leg. (Hi, Greg!) I can tell you the 5:45 fixed seating for dinner had LOTS of jeans on 'smart casual' nights.

 

Formal nights seemed more formal to me than most of the other cruises we've been on. We had about half tuxedos (including my husband and his brother), maybe more. We also only had three formal nights when our docs said four. Not sure which one they dropped.

 

My daily programs list a $20 cover charge for the Pinnacle. (We did not eat there.)

 

Robin

 

 

Thank you! :):)

[Dave M]

...is the Pinnicle Grill still 20dollars? :):)

The price goes up to $25 on December 15, but you can still buy Pinnacle dinners in advance for $20, as discussed in this thread.

[Down-Unders]

The price goes up to $25 on December 15, but you can still buy Pinnacle dinners in advance for $20, as discussed in this thread.

 

 

We have only have been on HAL once on the Ryndam. The food in the dining room was so good plus our waiters were great we never thought of eating anywhere else! What was so good about the tour of the highcountry out of CHristchurch ? Thank you.

[Down-Unders]

I was on Greg's Auckland-Sydney leg. (Hi, Greg!) I can tell you the 5:45 fixed seating for dinner had LOTS of jeans on 'smart casual' nights.

 

Formal nights seemed more formal to me than most of the other cruises we've been on. We had about half tuxedos (including my husband and his brother), maybe more. We also only had three formal nights when our docs said four. Not sure which one they dropped.

 

My daily programs list a $20 cover charge for the Pinnacle. (We did not eat there.)

 

Robin

 

 

We have been waiting anxiously for the rest of your review on this trip.

 

:):)