Volendam

[tkwbear]

I'm considering one of the Australia itineraries on the Volendam next fall. If you have cruised the Volendam in the last 6 months, please let me know what you think of her.

[DaveOKC]

We were on her for 7 days to Alaska in mid Sept last year. Great ship and appeared to be in fine condition. Did not see any problem areas and thought the staff was excellant.

We liked the ship so much we booked a cruise on a sister ship - Zaandam - for this April.

We enjoy this class of ship - large enough to have all the required ammenities, but small enough to be comfortable and not crowded.

DaveOKC

[DFD1]

Volendam and Zaandam are our favorite HAL ships. Have sailed both twice each.

I have not been on either in the last six months.

[onthegogirl]

I'm considering one of the Australia itineraries on the Volendam next fall. If you have cruised the Volendam in the last 6 months, please let me know what you think of her.

I sailed on her last spring to AU and NZ. Enjoyed it to much I'll be sailing her again in March. For me she is the ideal size and she has the wonderful sea view pool aft. I know some poster thought she was tired and dated. I didn't find her so but that is very subjective. She was clean and well maintained to my eye. And.....the itineraries are wonderful.

Carole

[Begete]

Just returned from Sidney - New Zealand cruise on the Volendam.

Airconditioning is a major issue for some passengers. It seems as if the individual room temperature controls are merely decorative. Some passengers' cabins were too hot and some were too cold and the room temperatures could NOT be controlled by using what we believe are fake in room thermostats.

It can be uncomfortably hot in many places the ship sails on this itinerary.


Otherwise the ship is comfortable and the itinerary excellant.

[tkwbear]

I am sorry to hear about this, but it was exactly the same way on the Maasdam last summer. I finally had them turn it as cold as possible, and slept under 2 blankets on some nights. The thermostat did absolutely nothing.

[RoupMom]

While not within 6 months, DH and I did the NZ to Australia cruise on the Volendam over the Christmas/New Year's Holidays a year ago. We liked the Volendam enough that we're taking her again this summer with our family to Alaska -- even driving to Vancouver, BC, instead of just leaving from Seattle. The biggest problem we had on our cruise was one woman at our dinner table who could be quite obnoxious. You can't really avoid that. The itinerary was absolutely wonderful, and made me want to return again. Enjoy!

[Arwen]

Just returned from Sidney - New Zealand cruise on the Volendam.

Airconditioning is a major issue for some passengers. It seems as if the individual room temperature controls are merely decorative. Some passengers' cabins were too hot and some were too cold and the room temperatures could NOT be controlled by using what we believe are fake in room thermostats.

It can be uncomfortably hot in many places the ship sails on this itinerary.


Otherwise the ship is comfortable and the itinerary excellant.

We were on the Volendam a year ago for the New Zealand/Australia cruise and our cabin was too warm. I discovered that you can control the A/C...if you ask :eek: The A/C on the ships has the cool air and warm air flow(pipes) controlled by a motorized baffle. If you like your room cooler and the thermostat isn't responding , then call the Front Desk and request that your air flow be adjusted for cooler air flow. Someone (who?) then adjusts your individual "baffle".

Most cruisers don't understand that this issue can be resolved easily by just asking. On the other hand, the Rotterdam truly had A/C issues that have by now (hopefully) have been taken care of.
:)

[chrispb]

Very nice ship and just the right size. The only time we had a problem with the air-con was in port for whatever reason - far too hot, but once at sea it worked fine.

[Queen of DaNile]

Just back from the Sydney-Auckland cruise as well. 2nd time on this ship & she is holding up well. Bit large for my taste but a good value with interesting ports and fun crew.