Volendam - Oct. 16 to 26

It was great to be back on the Volendam again. She is just as lovely a ship as ever. The food in the dining room was excellent -- better than ever. I have read some negative posts about the Master Chef's Dinner, but we enjoyed it a lot. It was fun, and our waiter said that they really enjoyed doing it.

The stop in Curacao was from early a.m. to midnight. All passengers had to be back on board ship by 10:30 p.m. and Curacao put on a fireworks display. Unfortunately, we fell asleep and missed the whole thing. But the stop in Curacao was a good one. It's a lovely island. We found Dominica to be very interesting. It's a poor country, but the people are friendly and courteous. Aruba is a dry island without a lot of greenery. Sadly, the famous Natural Coral Bridge has collapsed. No one seems to know why, and it was fortunate that it happened early in the morning and no one was on the bridge. Tortola is a beautiful island. We took an excursion up the mountains and back down along the ridge over the ocean. It was a hairy ride, but the scenery was gorgeous. I can't answer anything about the water and beach activities since we don't participate in those, but a lot of folks seemed to enjoy them a lot. The stop at Half Moon Cay was cancelled due to high winds. The captain did not want to lower the tenders in such dangerous conditions.

The first production show was Showtime -- songs and dance from Broadway shows - and it was excellent. The second show was something called H2OH and we did not like it at all. One of the headliners was a pianist, Paul Papas. We enjoyed his performance. He is very good, and if anyone sails while he is on stage, don't miss his show.

Overall, the crew was terrific. Not a surprise for HAL. The ship is clean and mostly in tip top shape. Balcony furniture showing a little wear and tear, but it's okay. The new mattresses and pillows are like sleeping on clouds. Wonderful!!! I love the Volendam, and once again she did not disappoint.

Two negatives I feel the need to mention, although they did not ruin our cruise at all. One - Beware Cabin 6205. The Kings Dining Room is directly below and they use this room for meetings, lectures, rehearsals and the amplifiers for loud speakers to the dining room. At times the noise was deafening. One night it was so loud we could not hear our TV. Only two nights were there noises past 10 p.m. Mostly, the disturbances were during the day. And two - The CD is not good. She gave little to no information during the cruise other than the times for bingo and disembarkation time. This was somewhat acceptable until time for final departure. We could not dock at Port Everglades, as was scheduled, due to Wilma. The captain was advised by headquarters to dock at Port Canaveral. The CD (Rebecca) did not give detailed information as to the disembarkation progress....we sat in our cabins and had no idea what was happening. We had to call the purser's desk to be kept apprised as to what was going on. There were long periods of nothing over the loud speaker, and she only called for those with certain tickets. It would have been nice if she had the courtesy to at least explain the process and the reasons for delays. Perhaps I am much to used to Princess where everything is explained by the CD and you are always kept well informed.

In spite of those two negatives, I would happily sail on the wonderful Volendam in a hearbeat...but not in cabin 6205.

Thanks for an interesting report! I, too, love the Volendam! Rotterdam V is my all-time favorite (maybe because it was my first), but the Volendam runs a very close second.

I was in Dominica and Tortola most recently in the Spring of 2004 and was very impressed with the infrastructure of Dominca. Even though they most certainly are a Third-World country, their roads were in better condition than were the ones on which I traveled on Tortola. While a very pretty area, Tortola occupies a place on my "been there, done that" list.

Thanks for posting.

Thanks for posting your review - we'll be sailing the Volendam for the 3rd time next February. We've been to Curacao several times, however we've never taken an excursion there. I think we'll be there for the same time period you were there. Do you have any recommendations? Sorry you missed the fireworks - they're always such fun to watch. Did they have the barbecue dinner up on the pool deck that night?

Glad you had a great cruise - welcome back!

I, too, was on the Violendam and I disagree with the previous poster about the lack of information on the last night. The biggest reason, I suspect, for the lack of information was that even the ship and the cruise line did not know for sure what would happen until well into the evening. Once the announcement was made that we would go into Port Everglades, the CD explained very carefully how we were to proceed to get the necessary tags and documents, and what choices we would be offered. Each time a new group was called, it was all repeated. For more detailed questions, the front desk staff were there to answer questions. The difficult part for us was that we were on the Verandah deck, and this was the deck that was called last to pick up our documents so that it was quite late (about 11 pm) before it was our turn to go and get our detailed questions answered.

As for the CD announcements throughout the cruise -- one of the reasons I am on HAL and not Princess (or, shudder, Carnival) is that on HAL they assume that we can read and do not need to be blasted by the PA all day long with frivolous reminders. I really appreciate that. All the info you need is in the daily schedule.

Sorry, double post!

Katy,

Welcome back! Thanks for posting your review. We are cruising on the Volendam in March.

I hope you got back to Palm City without too much hassle, and I hope your house was OK. You missed quite a storm. Not as bad in Martin County as last year's hurricanes though.

Does the Volendam have a piano bar, and if so, who was playing?

We were on the Verandah deck also, and did not have to go for any documents. Perhaps you needed to clear things because you had flights, etc. We live in FL and did not have to be concerned about transportation out of FL. I think that the cruise line did a great job under the circumstances and they went out of their way to provide transportation for all the passengers. BTW, I am not the only one who found the CD lacking, but that is purely a personal opinion. And our opinion about her did not spoil our cruise. It was a wonderful voyage.

Sally Scruggs was in the piano bar -- excellent musician, very nice person, not the greatest voice

The Gaspars played the Ocean Bar and were excellent -- the Ocean Bar was always crowded as many wished to listen and dance

Katy,

 

Welcome back! Thanks for posting your review. We are cruising on the Volendam in March.

 

I hope you got back to Palm City without too much hassle, and I hope your house was OK. You missed quite a storm. Not as bad in Martin County as last year's hurricanes though.

 

Does the Volendam have a piano bar, and if so, who was playing?

Hi there Oceanwench! I think you will love the Volendam. It's a lovely ship. Very comfortable with a great crew. And as I have mentioned, the food is terrrific. Yes, there is a piano bar. The piano player was a lady...don't know her name, but she was good. Some of the shows were excellent and some so so. But the Volendam is one of my most favorite ships. The cruise line did a great job of getting us back home. They contacted Cruise Connection, who was to pick us up at Port Everglades, and all their buses were there at Port Canaveral waiting for the passengers with rosters ready. We were impressed.

We didn't suffer much damage here, but a big oak tree fell and narrowly missed our house. Of course it drove us nuts watching CNN International. Just enough news to make us nervous, but not enough to know exactly what was happening. Our son lives in Boston and he would call my daughter and SIL, who also live in Martin County, and relay the news to us via email. We were without electricity for just a day after we got home. We were fortunate. How about you? You got the worst of the storm.

You will have a great cruise on this lovely ship. We sailed in the South Caribbean, and the islands were great. Which itinerary will you be on?

We'll be on the Volendam in February and are beginning to look at options when in port. One of our stops is Curacao, and from early AM to mid-night, as was yours. Would you mind sharing how you spent your day there? We're trying to come up with a plan and the shore excursions offered by HAL are somewhat limited.

Thanks!

We'll be on the Volendam in February and are beginning to look at options when in port. One of our stops is Curacao, and from early AM to mid-night, as was yours. Would you mind sharing how you spent your day there? We're trying to come up with a plan and the shore excursions offered by HAL are somewhat limited.

 

Thanks!

Our TA gave us a gift of a shore excursion which was run by an independent travel company. It was comprehensive and very good, but it was for a full day. We were too tired to go into town, which we will do if we return. There is a shuttle ferry which takes you into the town for shopping, etc., and it's free. From all I have heard, the town is quite nice. The ferry is near where the ship is docked. I really don't remember the shore offerings, so I can't help you too much. But I would leave time to go into town, and rest up to watch the fireworks as you leave port. We didn't and fell asleep so we missed the display. We liked Curacao very much. Sorry I'm not a greater help, but I'm sure someone will respond with other suggestions.

Wishonastar.

When my DH and I got off the ship in Curacao there were some people offering two hour tours in a van for $15.00 a person. We had six people in our van and it was a very nice tour. Upon our return the person driving the van offered to drop us off in town or at the ship, we wanted to return to the ship to freshen up. Afterwards we walked to the ferry - you will pass about a dozen vendors on the way. The floating bridge was being worked on so we didn't get to see it or use it - the ferry is just a couple yards away and it is free - the trip across the water only takes about a minute - although it takes about five to ten minutes before the ferry is full - so if you are one of the first people that get on the ferry , you will wait awhile.

My husband and I walked around town for about two hours - didn't really find any bargains - but it was nice to walk around and see the town. When we returned to the ship, we took a nap then went to the bar-b-que on deck - really liked that. The itinerary showed we would be in Curacao until midnight, but at 10:30 p.m. the captain began blowing the horn and announced that he was trying to get someone to come down to the pier and untie the ship. Finally, a little after 11:15 p.m. we were on our way, about the same time the fireworks began - they were excellent! The captain had said that the fireworks would begin at 10:45 p.m., but since we were delayed leaving port, I believe they do not shoot the fireworks off until the ship is pulling away from the dock. They also have dancing, games and fun on the aft deck beginning at 9:30 p.m.

We, too, took the $15 tour that we purchased at the pier. Tour was great if what you wanted was to see the island -- no need to purchase an excursion from HAL to do that -- if you wish to snorkle, dive or sail, then that is different.

I can't remember the exact name of the excursion but it was only $35 per person and it gave us a short tour of the island then took us to a private country club area where we used the beach. A party type bus picked us up and we sang karokee tunes on our way home. A cash bar was available on the beach along with restrooms and showers. They provided us with snorkel equipment at no additional cost. It was my first snorkel so I thought it was fantastic. If you were advanced it might not be to your liking but others in our group thought it was fun too, of course alot of their time they spent laughing and helping out us rookies. After we came back we then walked into the town area and took the ferry to the business district. Lots of knock offs and high end items so it depends what you are looking for.

The Bar B Q was good and the party was fun. Lots of party games and dancing.

I think it was my favorite port.

Mary:)