Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Live From The Volendam Dialy Report

Pilot70D

By Pilot70D,
in Holland America Line

Recommended Posts

Pilot70D

Pilot70D

Posted
Posted

Day 1

 

Here we are live from the Volendam located some fifty miles offshore from Port everglades. First impression of the Volendam –WOW, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SHIP. We have sailed on Princess ‘Grand’ class ships for the last three years. While we found them to be comfortable and nicely decorated the Volendam is truly prettier.

 

OK, now for some detailed reporting on this cruise.

 

EMBARKATION

 

Embarkation was a breeze and a very positive experience. We arrived at the port right at 1:00 P.M. and virtually walked on the ship. ALL of the personnel were smiling and polite as they greeted incoming passengers for embarkation processing. I dropped the War Department (a.k.a. Mrs. B) at the terminal with the luggage and then made the short trip to rental car return at the international airport. I was back at the terminal in twenty minutes hoping that the War Department had gotten us both through the check in procedures. No such luck. Three porters had to carry the suitcase containing her collection of undrilled designer bowling balls, the kitchen sink and whatever clothes she managed to cram in there before using the hydraulic press to close that luggage. Despite this everyone in the terminal was so nice. One person from the cruise line came around while she was waiting for my return and offered lemonade. Never had that happen with brand P.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pilot70D

Pilot70D

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The whole embarkation process including filling out that one form that HAL doesn’t send out in the DOCS (nor is available on line) took less than ten minutes. Yes, we did have to show our passports 38 times but that was painless. Our carry on luggage did set off the booze alarm when scanned though. Another smiling and very polite HAL person did look in our carry on bags to verify that we were only bringing champagne and wine aboard. After that it was up the stairs and welcome aboard. At least half a tribe of smiling HAL personnel gave us a “Welcome aboard and have a nice cruise with us”. Obviously they didn’t have to resuscitate the two porters that collapsed carrying the War Department’s bag from the curb to the checked luggage area.

 

Yes, we were escorted to our cabin by yet another smiling and white gloved HAL person. Poor lad made only one mistake – he tried to grab both of our carry on bags and carry them for us. Do the words double hernia mean anything.

 

THE CABIN

 

We have a minisuite on the Navigation Deck. We have always had minisuites on brand P so I can compare them reasonably accurately. The cabin is VERY nice albeit slightly smaller than the same type cabin on Princess. We like this cabin slightly better for a number reasons. First, the closet and storage space is more versatile and a little more useful. The closet on Princess was larger. On the Volendam the closet space is only slightly smaller but is a lot more useful. The closets have fold down shelves so that unused hanging space can be converted to shelf space. Neat, someone really had their head screwed on right when they devised this arrangement. Here on the V the desk is larger and is actually useful. Our verandah is a lot more private and is covered almost completely which we like. Mischievous thoughts of adult activities out there flitted through my mind for a moment. I of course dismissed them immediately.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pilot70D

Pilot70D

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Oh, BTW the cabin had fresh flowers in it, fluffy bathrobes and a mattress that is good enough to kill for. I am wondering if it will fit in the War Department’s big bag if the designer bowling balls don’t make the return home journey with us. One down side item – there are NO electrical outlets in the bathroom. Furthermore there is only one outlet here at the desk. Fortunately we were aware of this and brought a six-outlet power strip with us.

 

Air-conditioning has been a big issue on several HAL ships. While in port our cabin wasn’t uncomfortably warm but neither was it comfortably cool either. Thermostat has been set at its coolest setting the whole time. Once we got underway the air-conditioning has done a much better job of keeping the cabin cool and comfortable.

 

FOOD

 

Lunch on the Lido Deck was really good. Yes, Princess does offer a slightly greater variety in their Horizon Court. We think the HAL buffet is somewhat smaller due to HAL’s European heritage. Still there were a staggering number of choices and the food quality was very good. We even had prime rib but the meatloaf has yet to put in an appearance. And no, I don’t think I was being a little piggy just because I had four different deserts. I was merely trying to add a little color to the table by bringing in each desert in turn.

 

All of the HAL staff was smiling and several inquired if we were enjoying our lunch. The only downside to the buffet is that you are expected to get your own drink and to refill same unless ordering something from the bar. This is one area that I have to give the nod to brand P over HAL. On Princess the staff that clears and cleans the tables also circulates getting drinks and refills for diners when not actually busing the tables. This isn’t a major issue but I do like having whatever beverage I select brought to the table and then refilled when empty. I did see several HAL persons carry trays to the tables for passengers that need this sort of assistance and yes; it was always done with a smile. BTW coffee, tea and cappuccino were all free at the coffee bar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pilot70D

Pilot70D

Posted
  • Author
Posted

We took advantage of the first day special offered at the Pinnacle Grill. Lemmee tell you that place is dangerous with a capitol ‘D’. First off salt air shrinks all fabric. So here we are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, which is rife with salt air and eating a 16-course dinner in a really good restaurant. Well, maybe not exactly 16 courses but something close to it. And wouldn’t you know it – the table staff too were all smiling and urging us to eat more. The wine steward that brought our bottle wine stopped by three more times to pour more wine for us and to inquire if we were enjoying the particular wine we selected. The young lady that took care of our table was an absolute delight and had a great sense of humor once we broke the ice. After just two meals I can already feel my pants shrinking. BTW I forgot to mention the chocolate covered strawberries our TA sent along as a thank you gift. Those were good too as were the chocolates that adorned our pillows when we returned to the cabin. Our cabin person also left a bowl of fresh fruit in the mistaken belief that we were somehow starving to death on his boat. At this rate I’m going to have to hire a wheelbarrow to cart me off the ship when we return to Port Everglades.

 

More tomorrow about Day 2 and the rest of the ship. If anyone has questions please feel to post them here and I will answer them as quickly as I can. In the meantime everyone have a great day out there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
doone

doone

Posted
Posted

Pilot, thank you so much for posting from the Volendam. Your sense of humor and way of writing is a pure delight to read. I feel like I am sailing right along with you. Can't wait for your next thread, keep them coming, I just love reading them.

 

By the way, take good care of the Volendam as I sail her in March.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Arlenedow

Arlenedow

Posted
Posted

Pilot70d

 

I have enjoyed reading your review of the Volendam. :) We are going to sail on her March 30th. I had read some very negative reviews and almost didn't book the cruise. After reading your review and some others we are going ahead and look forward to the Volendam. The Zaandam is one of our favorite ships and I think they're sisters.

 

Thanks again, :)

Arlene

Link to comment
Share on other sites
doone

doone

Posted
Posted

Pilot, with all these threads here about how slow the service is and how over-worked the waiters are in the dining room, please let us know how your service on the Volendam is and how the food is in the dining room and the Lido.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RuthC

RuthC

Posted
Posted

Oh, this is gonna be fun! Thanks for sharing your vacation with those of us left behind.

I can't wait for the next installment.

Please include the names of the various entertainers if you decide to post about that topic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Arubalisa

Arubalisa

Posted
Posted
EMBARKATION

Embarkation was a breeze and a very positive experience. We arrived at the port right at 1:00 P.M. and virtually walked on the ship. ALL of the personnel were smiling and polite as they greeted incoming passengers for embarkation processing. I dropped the War Department (a.k.a. Mrs. B) at the terminal with the luggage and then made the short trip to rental car return at the international airport. I was back at the terminal in twenty minutes hoping that the War Department had gotten us both through the check in procedures. No such luck. Three porters had to carry the suitcase containing her collection of undrilled designer bowling balls, the kitchen sink and whatever clothes she managed to cram in there before using the hydraulic press to close that luggage. Despite this everyone in the terminal was so nice. One person from the cruise line came around while she was waiting for my return and offered lemonade. Never had that happen with brand P.

I just don't get it? Numerous comments here on the board regarding deteriorating service or lack of and they have someone walking around serving lemonade? :confused: in the terminal? I'll take that kind of crappy service any day of the week :)
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pilot70D

Pilot70D

Posted
  • Author
Posted

DAY 2

 

It’s another great day on Volendam as we sail hither and yon around the Caribbean. The captain finally found the throttle quadrant and we are now racing along having sailed from Nassau at noon. The temperature is around 78 and there is a glorious golden sunset clearly in view from our balcony. It’s a dirty job but somebody has to do it.

 

One small speed bump was overcome by the front desk personnel. We had prepurchased coke cards as well as some casino chips from ship’s services. They billed our credit card for both items but there was no record of the coke cards. The first visit to the front desk yielded a “We’ll have to check with the bar manager and then let you know”. Twelve hours later they hadn’t let us know so we decided to stop back at the front desk. Same person with whom we spoke earlier helped us again. He called the bar manager and then told us that our coke cards had been delivered to our room several hours ago. Ooops, wherever they went they didn’t get delivered to our room. A lucky pair somewhere on the ship is undoubtedly thanking HAL for the free coke card upgrade. After twenty more minutes the front desk person tracked us down where we were eating and personally delivered the coke stickers for our room cards. And yes, during the whole process he was polite, helpful and smiling.

 

But back to the present – room service just arrived with the cheese and crackers we ordered. We uncorked a good bottle of white wine and waited for the huge pillar of steam to appear when that great fiery ball in the sky touched the ocean way over on the horizon. Like I said it’s a dirty job but someone has to do it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pilot70D

Pilot70D

Posted
  • Author
Posted

FOOD

 

We had both breakfast and lunch in the Lido restaurant. Both meals were excellent with a lot of variety. I was immediately ahead of this one lady in line who complained constantly about the cutbacks in the number of choices and the quality of the food itself. Made me kind of wonder how she got from whatever cruise ship she had been dining on to the Volendam and why she decided to come aboard for this meal seeing as how the food was so much better wherever it was that she came from. NOT.

 

Actually I do wonder how they expect you to make it from lunch all the way to dinner with what they feed you. Not eating another meal for maybe three days would be more appropriate. I can report that I have reformed though. I limited myself to only two deserts after lunch until I saw the cookies but they don’t count anyway. Will see how much the salt air has shrunk my tux trousers later when we head to the dining room for the first time on this cruise.

 

THE SHIP

 

We went exploring after the huge lunch the War Department forced upon me. There were fresh flowers everywhere including the men’s room. Amazing, they have three or four blossoms floating in a decorative bowl of water in there. It was a really nice and unusual touch. We inspected a lot more of the artworks aboard. There is a truly interesting and magnificent variety of paintings, sculptures, vases and other works of art almost everywhere one looks. Some are prominent while others are in niches and alcoves. All are tastefully done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pilot70D

Pilot70D

Posted
  • Author
Posted

There is the normal gamut of shipboard activities – lectures, food, shipboard tours, food, bingo, receptions, food, art auctions and if I haven’t mentioned it before more food. I’ve got it all figured out though. This ship would be about the size of a rowboat if they didn’t have to store all that food aboard.

 

On a more serious note the announcements concerning the various activities (particularly the ones about the art auctions) are much less frequent and much less intrusive than what we experienced on brand P ships. All the information is there for those who are interested and easy to ignore for those that aren’t.

 

Our cabin attendant person, Yogi, has ESP. He is truly remarkable. No matter what time it is as soon as our cabin door opens and closes he senses that. Once having sensed that door activity he then magically appears almost out of a puff of smoke and straightens things up or makes up the cabin for whatever is happening next. He even keeps up with all that female type debris the War Department generates – you know makeup, lotions, potions, brushes, combs and other incomprehensible things that seem to accompany all females. Truly amazing.

 

Enough for now – time to head to the blackjack tournament. In the meantime everyone have a great day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...