DFD1
December 7th, 2004, 04:16 PM
With all that has already been written about this cruise, I'll try and be brief...
EMBARKATION: From the time we walked into the embarkation hall until we were in the Lido sitting down to lunch was 20 minutes. That's good enough for me anytime.
DISEMBARKATION: We were off the ship and driving away from the terminal by 8:50am. Best disembarkation we have ever experienced on any cruise line.
THE SHIP: The Volendam was clean as a whistle, looked beautiful, never felt crowded, She is a beauty and we look forward to sailing on her again soon.
STATEROOM: All of the SOE improvements were in place except for the flat screen TV. New bedding, bathroom linens, make up mirror, etc. The flowers and fruit were in place. Air Conditioning just right all week. Stateroom steward friendly and efficient. No complaints.
FOOD and FOOD SERVICE: Dining room waiter (Gusto) and assistant (Hata) were friendly and attentive. Assistant was spread a little thin, but the waiter made up for it. He served 18 guests. We did not want for anything. The food was generally just fine. We did not notice any particular change from previous HAL cruises.
LIDO: The Lido experience was good all week. Some food was more to our liking, but that's normal.
MEATLOAF: We did not see any. There was a "comfort food" item on the dinner menu each night and it was so noted on the menu.
PORTS OF CALL: HMC was crowded. We shared it with the Oosterdam. We had a clamshell and could have sold it half a dozen times for $l,000. The new shore excursions were in place. We went back on board for lunch because the shore lunch was overrun. No complaints though. We had a great day there.
St. Thomas is St. Thomas. We were one of only two ships there so that helped.
RoadTown is not much of a place unless you want to get your yacht resupplied or get out on the water. We took the Virgin Island sail away and had an absolutely GREAT day. Good snorkeling, good small beach, great time sailing across the Drake Channel. The other good thing about RoadTown is the beauty of the approaches to it by sea. Coming and going from there was really beautiful.
Dominica was quaint. We docked right in town. End of pier was main street. Mountains and streams were wonderful. We want to go there again.
Barbados,,,,We took the Rhino Rider inflatable boat excursion and went snorkeling. Had a great time. To give you some idea of how old the passenger list on this cruise skewed, we were two of only 4 people on this excursion. Not many Rhino Riders on this cruise. LOL
Nassau was Nassau. We think it has seen better days.
ENTERTAINMENT: Ordinary at best. I just don't understand why HAL doesn't just hire some good musicians and vocalists and let them just play and sing. Why do they always have to do such silly routines. I feel like they think I'm a retarded 3 year old when I'm in most of these onboard shows.....except for the cast show which is usually marginally better....All this IMO.
TIPPING: We liked not having to deal with the envelopes on the last day., but I still prefer the old tipping system. I'll leave it to HAL to deal with their employees. We did not think our service was particularily diminished by the new policy. (This in contrary to what I expected and had indicated here on previous posts before we went on this cruise. I was pleasantly surprised.)
OVERALL: We loved this cruise. Could not find much to complain about. Would go back in a heart beat. My confidence in HAL was not diminished by this cruise experience in the least.
ONE MORE THOUGHT: This was the oldest cruise we have ever seen. The average age must have been close to 70. I felt like a kid again. Now, don't get me wrong. I like older people. I AM ONE.
I'm sure others will give you a more complete report. We had a great time.
EMBARKATION: From the time we walked into the embarkation hall until we were in the Lido sitting down to lunch was 20 minutes. That's good enough for me anytime.
DISEMBARKATION: We were off the ship and driving away from the terminal by 8:50am. Best disembarkation we have ever experienced on any cruise line.
THE SHIP: The Volendam was clean as a whistle, looked beautiful, never felt crowded, She is a beauty and we look forward to sailing on her again soon.
STATEROOM: All of the SOE improvements were in place except for the flat screen TV. New bedding, bathroom linens, make up mirror, etc. The flowers and fruit were in place. Air Conditioning just right all week. Stateroom steward friendly and efficient. No complaints.
FOOD and FOOD SERVICE: Dining room waiter (Gusto) and assistant (Hata) were friendly and attentive. Assistant was spread a little thin, but the waiter made up for it. He served 18 guests. We did not want for anything. The food was generally just fine. We did not notice any particular change from previous HAL cruises.
LIDO: The Lido experience was good all week. Some food was more to our liking, but that's normal.
MEATLOAF: We did not see any. There was a "comfort food" item on the dinner menu each night and it was so noted on the menu.
PORTS OF CALL: HMC was crowded. We shared it with the Oosterdam. We had a clamshell and could have sold it half a dozen times for $l,000. The new shore excursions were in place. We went back on board for lunch because the shore lunch was overrun. No complaints though. We had a great day there.
St. Thomas is St. Thomas. We were one of only two ships there so that helped.
RoadTown is not much of a place unless you want to get your yacht resupplied or get out on the water. We took the Virgin Island sail away and had an absolutely GREAT day. Good snorkeling, good small beach, great time sailing across the Drake Channel. The other good thing about RoadTown is the beauty of the approaches to it by sea. Coming and going from there was really beautiful.
Dominica was quaint. We docked right in town. End of pier was main street. Mountains and streams were wonderful. We want to go there again.
Barbados,,,,We took the Rhino Rider inflatable boat excursion and went snorkeling. Had a great time. To give you some idea of how old the passenger list on this cruise skewed, we were two of only 4 people on this excursion. Not many Rhino Riders on this cruise. LOL
Nassau was Nassau. We think it has seen better days.
ENTERTAINMENT: Ordinary at best. I just don't understand why HAL doesn't just hire some good musicians and vocalists and let them just play and sing. Why do they always have to do such silly routines. I feel like they think I'm a retarded 3 year old when I'm in most of these onboard shows.....except for the cast show which is usually marginally better....All this IMO.
TIPPING: We liked not having to deal with the envelopes on the last day., but I still prefer the old tipping system. I'll leave it to HAL to deal with their employees. We did not think our service was particularily diminished by the new policy. (This in contrary to what I expected and had indicated here on previous posts before we went on this cruise. I was pleasantly surprised.)
OVERALL: We loved this cruise. Could not find much to complain about. Would go back in a heart beat. My confidence in HAL was not diminished by this cruise experience in the least.
ONE MORE THOUGHT: This was the oldest cruise we have ever seen. The average age must have been close to 70. I felt like a kid again. Now, don't get me wrong. I like older people. I AM ONE.
I'm sure others will give you a more complete report. We had a great time.