Our Volendam 11/6-16 cruise review

[Peggy Sue]

Well, others have already posted some great reviews of this cruise...but thought I'd share our experience too....

Cruise Trip Report \Volendam – 11/6 – 16

 

Trip to Fort Lauderdale:

 

We flew down to Ft. Lauderdale from Boston the day before and stayed at the Marina Marriott. We had dinner with some friends we met on the Zuiderdam in May of 03. They suggested we try a Brazilian Steakhouse – Chima, which was excellent. :p If you’ve never been to a Brazilian Steakhouse, give it a try..it’s delicious and a great atmosphere to visit with friends. There’s a huge salad bar, which contains a whole lot more than typical traditional items. Back at the table, waiters circulate and offer you portions of 16 different meats – a variety of beef, lamb, chicken and fish carved tableside. Each guest is given a chip that they use to indicate if they would like to receive or stop the delicious parade of meats, etc.

 

Embarkation:

 

Took the 11 AM shuttle from the Marriott to the cruise port Saturday morning only to find a long line of fellow passengers already waiting. Finally heard from HAL staff that a previous passenger clearing customs caused the delay. :( Around noon the doors opened and the line slowly moved through security and onto the check in lines. Once identified as a suite passenger we were given a gold sticker and directed to a line for suite guests. We boarded around noon and a white-gloved steward escorted us to the Neptune Lounge. We met Rollie, our conceriege, and then went to check out our suite, 7014, drop off our carry on, etc.

 

We found the embarkation process much easier than May 03. If there hadn’t been a custom’s issue with the previous cruise I suspect there wouldn’t have been a very long line, but the hour delay in the start of our boarding process did create a rather large bottleneck. We found getting through the security check took longer than actually checking in!

 

Suite:

 

We experienced our first suite on the Zuiderdam and we were immediately and forever spoiled. When we booked the Volendam we both agreed we wanted to experience the “suite life” again. Our suite, 7014 was in excellent condition and we really enjoyed the luxury of extra space, king size bed, dressing room and plenty of closet space. There were a few things that we missed from the Zuiderdam suite..a desk area and the dual sinks in the bath. (Although it was nice to have a small sink in the dressing room, which the Zuiderdam doesn’t have.) Most mornings we enjoyed breakfast out on the verandah. We loved spending time on the verandah. Our weather this cruise wasn’t the best, and we had a few days where we couldn’t use the verandah due to ocean spray leaving everything wet and covered with salt. We received a notice one day that they were coming in to pressure wash the verandah..it looked fantastic, however, one day later it was covered in salt due to the weather! Our cabin steward was terrific!

 

The new bedding was very comfortable. I never understood why the bedspread was placed back on the bed every day, but folded back to cover the bottom 1/3 of the bed. :confused: Perhaps it’s done to protect the white duvet, but the style/fabric looked a bit out of place with the new bedding.

 

A/C in our suite could have been better. We asked for service twice, which was promptly responded too, but nothing really improved. We found the airflow seemed to diminish right about the time we were getting ready for dinner each night, which make the room a bit uncomfortable. We really noticed this when dressing for the formal nights. :(

 

The Neptune Lounge is terrific! Love the coffee service! Rollie took care of all our needs and helped us set up a cocktail party one evening. The first evening we attended a cocktail party here and enjoyed meeting Captain Weiger van der Zee and other cruise staff. A very nice way to start our vacation. We were also invited to another cocktail party later on in the cruise, which was held in the Atrium, however this was not a suite only event. I’m not sure why we were invited, but it was a nice set up with full bar and appetizers offered. We didn’t stay long as the area was very warm. We skipped the suite luncheon, which is held the last day at sea in the Explorer’s Lounge. We walked by while it was being set up and it looked very nice.

 

More to come....

[Peggy Sue]

Dining:

 

We found all food offerings to be very good throughout the ship. :p

 

Lido - offered good variety and we both enjoyed the sandwich and pasta bars at lunch. We enjoyed dinner here one evening with a group of friends .. tables were covered in white linen and the majority of the food offered in the dining room was offered in the Lido that evening. You go through the line and pick up your appetizers, salads, soups etc and then place your entrée order. A sample of all entrée’s offered for the evening are displayed, which greatly assists with making your dinner choice. The entrée is delivered to the table, and the stewards also assist with bringing dessert and coffee. Everyone enjoyed their dinner and we all agreed it was a great way to spend time with new friends and skip the formality of getting dressed for dinner one evening.

 

Dining Room – We had a table for two, early late seating (8 PM) We actually had a table for 4, as there was a table for two right next to us with about 6 inches between the tables. A very nice couple from Jacksonville, FL was seated next to us and we enjoyed lively dinner conversation each evening. We dined here 6 of the 10 nights on board. Our wait staff was very courteous, but they made no effort to introduce themselves or spend any time chatting with us. :( Our drink preferences (ice tea, etc) were noted the first evening and delivered correctly each subsequent evening, however, we had to ask for refills etc. It is very obvious the wait staff has been reduced in the dining room and we believe quality of service has suffered as a result of the cutbacks. Food quality was very good and most evenings offered a good variety to select from. Menu now reflects a “comfort food” selection each evening, and yes, meatloaf was one of them. I didn’t order the meatloaf, but asked our server to please bring out a taste. Although not outstanding, it wasn’t bad, and if it were the only thing on the menu, it certainly would be a passable meal! Last formal night we were served 2 full lobster tails, cooked to perfection. As a New Englander, we’re fussy about how our lobster is cooked, and HAL certainly passed the test! Wine Steward – again serving too many tables and had to wait for service. No problem corking wine and it was waiting for us the next night. We also had some wine received from our T/A sent to the dining room and it was waiting for us when we arrived.

 

Pinnacle – we dined here three evenings and enjoyed every meal. DH always ordered the porterhouse and declared it perfection. I tried the rib eye, filet and cedar plank scampi, and all were delicious. DH had the volcano each evening, I opted for the crème Brule – pure perfection! :)

 

Entertainment:

 

Explorer’s Lounge – Rosario Strings – Excellent. If you have an opportunity to hear them – go..they are fantastic and they packed the lounge every night. Extra chairs had to be brought in for the crowds that gathered each evening. They really deserved a better venue to showcase their talent.

We only attended one show, a comedian who turned out to be the cruise director’s husband. He was OK, but did a lot of jokes aimed at the elderly. I will admit I was chuckling a few times, but when looking down at some of the elderly in the lower level, they were not laughing. Most evenings they offered cast shows…not our cup of tea, so we didn’t attend. They had a piano player one evening, we saw him on the Zuiderdam in 03, and didn’t care to see him again.

 

Activities during the day were dismal and few and far between. No music playing on the outside decks..just dead silence. What’s up with that? Our weather wasn’t the greatest and there were a lot of people on board the ship even in port…but with the exception of an extra movie, nothing was really done to involve the passengers in fun activities to replace the loss of sunshine.

 

Crows Nest – a great location and one of the few spots where we found some good A/C!! But, band only played for 30 minutes!! We noted a lot of officers stopped by for a drink each evening, including the captain and the cruise director.

 

Cruise Director – Dottie – Not impressed……..I think she thought she was organizing entertainment for a retirement home…not a ship full of restless passengers looking for something fun to do. :( (Not a slam towards seniors….like us, most were looking for something fun to do too!)

 

More to come...

[Peggy Sue]

Ports of Call:

 

We didn’t do much. Stayed on the ship in Nassau..been there, done that, and we were only in port until 12:30 PM. St Thomas, took an enjoyable island tour and then did some shopping. Port was too crowded…lots of ships there, so we went back to our ship at Crown Bay. We stayed docked until a little after 4 AM..and then headed over to Tortola – one of the neat things at this port of call was watching the Zuiderdam dock on the other side of the pier ..very neat to be able to see the ship we were on last year. This was the first opportunity we had to see the size of the SS suites..We counted the sheets of Plexiglas on the verandahs..an S had 4 sheets, SS 3 sheets and all other 2 sheets. The SS verandahs looked very spacious and comfy. We took an excellent picture from the pier of the two ships docked. We took another island tour..very enjoyable, but the rains came half way through and it was a bit nerve racking driving up and down those narrow, winding roads. We stopped at Cane Garden Bay for about 45 minutes. I was looking forward to walking along the beach but we quickly found out a woman had died and was on the beach covered in towels waiting for the authorities to take her away. We heard she was from England, a regular visitor who had been out in a kayak that morning, and they suspected she had a heart attack. So, we went into the bar and got a soda and waited for the tour to return to the ship. Dominica – we didn’t get off the ship, but those that did said the island was indeed beautiful. Barbados..arrived in pouring rain, all ship tours canceled. We went into the terminal to shop for a while and later on we went into town to walk around for a while. Our call to half moon cay was canceled due to gale force winds. (very sad!)

 

The Crew:

 

It was evident there was an undercurrent of discontent with the staff. We still received gracious, friendly service, but we also saw a lot of unhappy faces. We spoke to several about the new tipping policy to confirm they would receive extra cash tips if we left the auto tip in place. Our cabin steward thanked us for taking the time to ask about the new system and advised he would be allowed to keep the extra cash tip if we left the auto tip in place.

 

We met two wonderful bar staff members in the Explorer’s Lounge – Reggie and Rose…They went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable and had more chocolate than we could possibly eat! We learned that the auto tip on the bar bills does not go to the individual servers..it is pooled.

 

Staff advised they are asking for more detailed accounting of how the auto tips are dispersed after each cruise. One room steward (not ours) advised that he was called into the office due to a passenger removing the auto tip from their account and he was asked to turn over the cash tip he had received. Staff looked tired. Although we received good service on this cruise, we did notice a definite decline from what we received on the Zuiderdam in 03.

 

Bar service on the outside decks was very disappointing. Had to hunt them down, and response was slow. The one happy hour they ran became a mob scene daily, and then it took upwards to 20-30 minutes to receive drinks after being ordered.

 

The best part:

 

I checked out the roll call board on cruise critic to see if anyone else would be joining us on this cruise. Much to our delight, we found an active thread for our cruise and had some fun exchanges before the cruise. We set up a meeting time early in our cruise and every one of us showed up for the event. We had a fantastic time and it was immediately apparent we had found a group of people we were going to enjoy spending time with. We met daily for happy hour, enjoyed the Rosario Strings together and gathered in the Crows Nest. On at sea days, we enjoyed lunches in the Lido and dined together one evening. We had a group picture taken on our last formal night, and our last evening together we asked Rosario Strings to play Auld Lang Sine for us .. It was sad to say good by to such a great group, but I know that the friendships we forged will remain for years to come. We may not have seen much sunshine, but our group warmed our hearts and we spent many happy hours with them. (Thank you cruise critic for the opportunity to meet people!) :)

 

Conclusion:

 

Everyone approaches their vacation with their individual agendas. We looked forward to 10 days of relaxation, a time to renew our spirits and heal our hearts, as my mother-in-law had just passed away in September after a long battle with Cancer. We weren’t looking to do a lot in the ports of call, so the weather really didn’t bother us, with perhaps the exception of not being able to use our verandah a couple of days. We enjoyed our cruise and meeting fellow passengers. Overall tone of the cruise was sedate - very quite, which again, for our needs, at that point in time was just fine. I do think the cruise director could have done a better job getting passengers involved in more activities due to the weather. The ship was too quiet..I’m not for loud rock music, but I think a Caribbean cruise needs a little steel drum music out on the decks to get the passengers swaying!

 

We have booked another HAL cruise to Alaska next year on the Zaandam. We are bringing my dad along, he will be 75 and we believe the HAL experience will be terrific for him – this will be his first cruise. After Alaska, I think we may venture out and give other lines a try. Perhaps Celebrity. Although we enjoyed our cruise very much, we believe that was due in a large part to the group of friends we were fortunate enough to meet and spend time with. We believe HAL fell short in delivering a cruise experience that sparks loyalty and leaves you with the feeling that it’s the only cruise line you want to sail again.

 

Thanks for reading..I'll be hapy to answer any questions

[bkreader]

What a great review! What a shame that the service has become so spotty.

Plus it's really too bad that the weather was so lousy, and especially that you missed HMC. On my last cruise, the one thing I was really looking forward to was Trunk Bay. I had a neat picture of Trunk Bay as my computer wallpaper for months in advance, and kept telling everyone how beautiful it was supposed to be, and how much I was looking forward to it. Well we got to Trunk Bay, but it didn't look quite so beautiful in the pouring rain! :(

 

I have learned my lesson - this time I am not going to set expectations too high for any one place.

 

Your Dad will love Alaska. We did the Inside Passage with my Mother when she was 84 - she was thrilled. - Jane

[Sue's Mom]

Thank you for a great review and for taking your time to prepare it.

 

We are sailing on the Volendam on Friday next and I am approaching it with some trepidation.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for posting your review.

We will be on the Volendam for back-to-back cruises in Feb/Mar.

Your father will love Alaska.

Do agree that the cutbacks on all the HAL ships is beginning to show.

 

[Guest tealady]

Peggy Sue, thank you for the great review. Having been a fellow passenger I can say that due to the friendships made, it was truly a wonderful cruise in spite of it all.

 

I echo the views above except for the perspective of the cabin. We were in cabin 1809 and it was not a pleasant experience down there. Cabin 1809 is on Dolphin Deck where the ship comes to a point in front. It is one of a few cabins with no sofa, no room for a chair under the desk and the desk was half the length of the ones in the other cabins. It only had portholes, no picture window. This was our first HAL cruise and I had heard about how large the cabins were. Boy were we surprised. This cabin also had the distinction of being very noisy. I am not sure what the noise was from, but whenever the ship would come into a port, there was a whirring noise that would awaken us. Some kind of mechanical sound.We encountered very rough seas on several days on this cruise and the waves would crash into the hull of the ship so hard it sounded like a dumpster was being slammed into the side of our cabin every half hour all night long. I tried to catch a nap the next day in the cabin, but the dumpster banging continued along with the rocking of the ship. I guess there was no sleep for the wicked.

 

The beds on the other hand are heavenly. The best linens and mattresses afloat, and we had no complaints about our cabin steward. He kept our tiny little abode very clean.

 

One other thing I have to mention is the smoking issue. I have never encountered a ship with so many areas with smoking allowed. It seemed we could not get away from the smoke. Every night going to dinner, we had to tread down the corrider by the shops past the casino and bars filled with smoke that drifted out into the hallways.

 

I like to play the slots, but never even thought of entering the casino on this ship because of the smoke.

 

One night I tried to go into one of the shops that sell perfume and it was filled with smoke drifting in from the bars and casino all the way across the hall.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am not allergic to smoke and don't think I am overly sensitive, but it was just way too much for me.

 

For anyone else on our cruise, did you notice this too?

 

As Peggy Sue and Mrswynn have said in their reviews, we all had a wonderful time on our cruise.

As for me I am just not biting at the bit to get back on another HAL ship.

[localady]

First of all, Peggy Sue, thank you for your review. It was honest and well thought out. I know what you mean about a suite. We go between a suite and a veranda cabin depending upon our budget and the itinerary, and I feel much more spoiled in the Suite!

 

If folks at HAL have read the reviews within the last 6 months, they will realize that many of the reviews note a lowered standard of service, especially in the dining room. New cruisers won't sustain HAL if HAL doesn't create an environment that causes them to eagerly book that second cruise with the line.:o

Most of us do not want to greeted by exhausted unhappy staff members as that causes a poor vacation environment. The thing that stuck me as wonderful prior to the staffing cutbacks was that most of the crew members were generally happy with their positions and had smiles on their faces, not for a tip, but because it was really an okay way to support themselves and their loved ones.

The cruise market is booming right now, and HAL and CCL are making great money right now and advanced bookings are up. The question is, will the "different" level of service they are now providing to their passengers cause them to be loyal to the line if the market changes via any of numerous events that could cause that? :confused:

Good, friendly happy employees are crucial to HAL, and, more importantly as most will agree, the staff has always been what set HAL apart. I hope that HAL recognizes the need to keep that quality.:cool:

[dogsdogs]

Peggy Sue:

 

I think your review was so well-written, thoughtful and balanced that I wish you would send it to HAL. I think the problems you addressed are important to all of us who love Hal and the Volendam especially. I was on the Volendam last January before the auto tips were being applied, and our service was so wonderful that we have booked the same ship again. I hate to hear they are slipping. It is also important because you are a suite guest--those cabins aren't inexpensive--HAL should take notice! Thanks for your review.

[stanjj111]

Loved the fair and honest review. We are on the Dec 26th cruise.

[BLStokes23]

Peggy Sue - Thanks for taking the time to post your review. We'll be sailing on the Volendam again this January. I am sorry that the weather didn't cooperate for your cruise. I agree with you regarding the music on the outside decks. It is a Caribbean cruise - music helps to set the mood. Glad you got to meet some fellow CC members. It's always fun to put a face with the name.

[KenM]

Peggy Sue:

 

Really enjoyed your review since we are on the 11/26 cruise and we also have a suite.

Do they still have a special luncheon with the captain?

 

Also, were you able to disembark early at the end of the cruise..and what time did you get off?

 

I have read issues with the A/c the past month. That does not sound good..

Was it generally hot all the time or just at dinner time?

 

Glad you enjoyed it overall and we look forward to a great time

 

ken

[the2ofus]

Peggy Sue, Thank you for your review. We enjoyed the Volendam several years ago. It sounds like the Cruise Director needs to be replaced with someone with more zest and creativity.

 

I have read several comments these past few weeks regarding overworked staff and unhappy staff. I was wondering if the staff from the Noordam will be distributed over the rest of the HAL fleet soon. That might improve the situation considerably. Perhaps someone who cruised on the last few Noordam cruises will have some information for us?

[Peggy Sue]

thank you for your kind comments.

 

the2ofus .. Hmm, it would be great if they could distribute the Noordam staff over the other ships! I'd send that suggestion to HAL!!

 

KenM - As a suite guest, we were in the first group of people exiting the ship. Ship was cleared around 8:15 and we were on our way and in a taxi heading to the airport by 8:30. It was a quick walk off the ship, locating luggage and getting through customs. No lines to speak of and lots of help in the terminal to assist guests finding luggage etc. (at least, when we went through!!) Our flight to Boston was sceduled for 12:15 and we were able to get on an earlier flight that left at 10:45. You may remain in your cabin the final morning, order room service, or grab some breakfast in the Neptune Lounge, Lido or Dining Room. Stewards were very busy working on the cabins for the next round of guests, but they didn't see to mind working around us.

 

A suite luncheon was held the final day at sea in the Explorer's lounge. I don't know if the captian attended or not. We didn't attend. We attended the suite luncheon on the zuiderdam. It was nice, but it was more of a compilation of appetizers than an actual luncheon.

 

A/C...It wasn't hot all the time..there were periods when the ship was quite comfortable. Plus, with the weather, it really wasn't that hot outside during the day. We noticed it more in the evening in the dining room, and the explorers lounge.

 

Hope you have a fantastic time..and great weather!! Say hi to rollie!

 

Sues Mom .. You will have a great time. We really did have a nice time on the cruise. I think if the weather had been more cooperative and we were off and doing things everyday we might not of noticed all that we did...but given the fact that we saw rain almost daily, we had a lot of time on our hands and at times found ourselves focusing on what was going on around us. Wishing you all calm seas and sunny skies...and a great cruise!!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Peggy Sue, fantastic review and written so well. I enjoyed it. It's especially interesting to me because I was on the Oosterdam 11/7-14 and had similar reactions to the tiredness and unhappiness of the crew. You may have seen my review; if not you may find it interesting to compare. What upsets me about it as I continue to read reviews over the past several months is that my experience was not an isolated one and I would rather it was.

 

I also think it is very sad that we've come to the point that almost every one of us finds ourselves discussing the tip situation with our stewards, etc. The fact is this should not be an issue. We should enjoy our time on the cruise and have the ability to reward the service we receive. But it is clear that there is something wrong with the system when we find ourselves constantly trying to figure out how to correctly reward the staff over and above what HAL has decided to give them from the "automatic tips".

 

I wrote HAL about this and got the same "pat" answer that is in their letter. They don't really address the issue. I can only hope that they wake up soon and see that there seem to be consistent problems on several ships and if they continue to overwork their crew and the spirit and joy of life goes out of them, many of their loyal passengers will begin to look into other cruiselines.

 

Thanks again for the time, effort and thought you put into this review!

[doone]

Peggy Sue, great review. I am glad the Volendam is still a great ship. I am looking forward to sailing her again in March.

[Orcrone]

Peggy Sue,

 

Thanks for the great review. We were just on the Maasdam. We also were surprised by the lack of music at the pools. Looking over our daily activity sheets, there was only about 5 hours total on a 10 day cruise. To make matters worse they played the same set over and over. Most of the time they didn't have any piped in music either. As much as it may seem a petty complaint I really found it much more enjoyable on past cruises hearing Reggae, Steel Drum and Calypso music. After all it is the Caribbean. Surprising, it affected our enjoyment quite a bit.

 

As far as activities go, I was shocked that there was a total of 15 minutes of pool games on one day for the entire cruise. I of course realize that there are those people who prefer no music or activity, so that should be taken into account when booking a cruise. However, if you're one who wants that, it's sorely missing on HAL.

 

There were a couple of port days when things were dead on our ship, but we could hear the live music coming from other ships in port.

[Peggy Sue]

Heather,

 

Thank you for your kind comments. I agree with you about the tipping policy. It is very confusing and I think the staff is not really that thrilled with it. The bar staff is the most discontent (from our experience) one confided that they have been operating in the negative since the new tipping policy was put into place. They have many thing deducted from their pay..living, food, uniforms, etc. The person just looked so down when explaining the new system. We heard from more than one that the staff is really pressing HAL for more detailed accounting of exactly how the automatic tips are being allocated. Our dining room server hardly smiled. He was efficient, well as efficient as one can be with so many tables, but he really didn't look happy at all. Our cabin steward with terrific, very personable and really went the extra mile to make sure all of our needs were met..but he looked so tired.

 

I enjoyed reading your oosterdam review, and really enjoyed viewing your pictures! It's great this group shares so much information with each other!!

 

Doone - I failed to include this in my report, but agree this ship is beautiful. We loved the flowers, art work and flow of the ship. It was a very comfortable ship and very easy to navigate. Looking forward to checking out her sister ship next year. I hope your next voyage will be filled with sunny skies and calm seas!

 

Orcrone - Intersting you had the same comments about the lack of music on the decks. I seem to recall more music on the zuiderdam last year, but maybe I'm having a senior moment and it was the same as the Volendam. We had to chuckle the night of the bar-b-queue (which we enjoyed) when the band began to play we commented that we were going to have some nice tropical music to go along with our dinner....but they played polka's!! We got a good chuckle out of that.

 

Peggy Sue

[wdw1972]

Excellent review, Peggy Sue - and nice to see you! Did you think the suite on the Volendam was much bigger or better than the one you had on the Zuiderdam? I'm booked on the Volendam next November, but in a regular veranda stateroom. A suite might be nice, though....it sure is nice to be pampered and have the extra space.

 

Sorry the weather was so lousy, but I'm glad it didn't spoil your fun. Sounds like you had a wonderful time, even with the little blips in service. Meeting a fun bunch of people makes a huge difference. My May Zuiderdam will be awfully tough to ever top, just because of the great bunch of new friends I met from Cruise Critic. We're still in touch after the cruise.

 

Hope to see you onboard HAL or at WDW again sometime. Enjoy Alaska next year!

[marybeach]

Thank you for the excellent review. It was very well written. As you can imagine, I'm reading everything about the Volendam, as we will board in less than 48 hours.

 

I am concerned about the staff, the smoke, and the A/C. Forewarned is forearmed. I have had such good experiences with the HAL stewards and waitstaff. I hope that we get surrounded by the ones who are happy.:)