terrydtx

We have an August cruise and we booked our HIA specialty restaurants months ago.

Yes that is true and how we got the cabin we wanted on our upcoming Volendam cruise by adding CO when we booked.

On our first Volendam cruise the first floor in the Atrium was used for the art auctions by PW and they were held during the daytime on sea days only. I would be very upset if they took over the Crow's Nest, one of the only two indoor bar venues and by far the quietist on the Volendam.

I was thinking the poster was a Park West emplyee.

When booking your shore excursions put them all in your cart then when you check out the HIA shorex credit will then be taken out of the grand total. If you book and pay individually, you can lose some of your credit. For example, if a shore excursion is for $90 and you use the $100 Shorex credit the left over $10 is lost. I found this out the hard way on our HAL cruise last year. If you have multiple excursions in your cart the full $100pp credit is deducted from the grand total.

We boarded the Koningsdam in San Diego last November. We had CO priority boarding and there was a line to check in for CO, Neptune and Pinnacle suites and 4* and 5* guests. We had np problems using that line and checking in, then we were directed to the special waiting area for those groups to board when boarding began. We got to the terminal at 11am and boarding began about noon. We were on the ship by 12:15pm.

We use a TA, always, and when we booked our upcoming Volendam cruise last year, she booked us in a B category Vista Suite, added CO and then our upgrade was to an A category VS at the B price. No problems at all.

They are back because of the huge amount of revenue the cruise lines make from this unethical company that has taken advantage of unwary passengers for years. Closing the Crows nest every night is ridiculous and should be unacceptable by passengers. There are plenty of other ship venues that could be used that are not as popular by guests,

I see you did a cruise in 2013 on the Zaandam, the sister ship to the Volendam, how did you like the ship for that cruise? We have sailed on the Volendam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Eurodam, Noordam, Oosterdam (twice) and Koningsdam and found each ship to be very different and we liked them all. When we book a cruise, our first priority is the itinerary and then the ship available for that itinerary. That is why we are booked on the Volendam in August.

Last November on the Koingsdam we booked CO, fortunately for us, as the lines ever night to enter the MDR were down the hallways past the CO dining room. The most we ever waited to be seated in the CO dining room as 10 minutes. The cruise was 100% booked and there were crowds everywhere. We would never sail on a Pinnacle class ship now without CO for that reason. We will be on the Volendam in August, and we booked CO for the cabin upgrade, but we may enjoy the special lines for CO to enter the MDR.

That actually says 140-319 sqft. If you cruise much you should subscribe to Cruise Deck Plans. Its cheap for lifetime and has much more information on cabins and decks along with actually pictures from past guests who post on the site. I use the site to check out any cabin before we book. Cruise Deck Plans, Ship Layouts & Room Details - Cruise Deck Info

According to the Cruise Deck plans website, on the Volendam Interior cabins have 182 sq ft and the OV cabins have 197 sq ft.

We got the midship Vista Suite we would have booked without CO by booking lowest level of VS and the difference in cost paid for the CO add on cost.

We booked our upcoming Volendam cruise with CO for the free upgrade and other nice amenities, not having the CO dining room was no problem on this cruise.

We had the same location on the Koingsdam last November and loved the location. Never noticed any smoke and noise was never to the level to be bothersome. I would book the same cabin again. The only smoking issue we had on the ship was from the casino which was so bad we never could enter the casino and the stairwell next to it.