Thinking Volendaam Good Choice?

[rugbypopsie]

After driving myself crazy trying to find holiday to suit family..I have given up on land based options and am thinking about Volendaam for the Jan 16th Sth Pacific loop (no surprise I am back to thinking about cruising).

 

We are 4 generations including two primary school littlies...is this a good choice, prices look good and we need school holidays.

 

Son and family have not cruised before and I would love them to become as addicted as I am.

 

Suggestions from any who have sailed her and comments on best deck would be welcome.

 

 

[SunnyinDubai]

Yes - we did the Sth Pacific route in Jan and it was really good - it was a full ship and the kids club was very busy - they even brought in more staff to deal with the extra kids. I understand that the HAL ships are not really geared to having a lot of children travelling so it was harder for the kids club staff to have to manage them all but they coped well. The pools are not big so I guess it may seem crowded with more kids but I have to admit we hardly ever used the pool when we were on so it was not an issue for us. There were incidents of kids running around the pool area but this was monitored and stopped quickly (most times I was told). The kids club is broken into sessions - 3 per day - so a morning one - break for lunch, an afternoon session - break for dinner and then an evening/night session. The club is closed during the breaks. Overall, the staff did well and there were a lot of activities but it was crowded at the club and kids had to participate in all of the activites during the session - my 9year did not like that much and she tended to not want to go to the kids club - fortunately she met ADF's daughter on board and they had fun together :).

 

I have to admit that we are HAL converts - as we just enjoyed travelling on the Volendam as we did get good service on the ship. We had issues with our airconditioning but it was resolved as best as they could and honestly we could not fault the service on the ship at all - we had a lovely time and were very relaxed when we got off the ship. There was a lot happening all around the ship so you could be as busy or as free as you wanted to be.

 

As for which deck to book - we were on the Dolphin deck - midship and it was fine. We were on the lowest deck. I was warned not to book the main deck as there is a walking deck above it and it could get noisy with people walking on that deck at all times during the day and evenings and people dragging the deck chairs that were on that deck.

 

If you do a search on here - a CC member was on the same cruise we were on and he did a great video of his trip...will see if I can find it for you.

 

Feel free to ask if you have any other questions :)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Thinking Volendaam Good Choice?

 

Excellent choice!!!

 

If you enjoy Princess, you will really enjoy HAL.

Very similar, but just a step up, in as much as the decor is a bit more sumptuos.

Havent been on Volendam, but have been on Amsterdam,Statendam, and Rotterdam.

One tip we found re cabins, the Outside cabins were the same size as the balcony cabins , but the balcony is included in that space, so you have more room in an outside cabin. Thats how we found it, and I expect it would be the same on Volendam.

[Sandielle]

I know this is going off topic, but while I remember, are the balcony cabins on the Pacific Dawn smaller than the Oceanview cabins? It looks that way on the deck plans.

 

The oceanview are really quite big - especially when they are 2 persons only cabins.

[cazz0069]

I know this is going off topic, but while I remember, are the balcony cabins on the Pacific Dawn smaller than the Oceanview cabins? It looks that way on the deck plans.

 

The oceanview are really quite big - especially when they are 2 persons only cabins.

 

 

Sandy, my parents went on the Volendam and hated it, i was actually surprised at how dissapointed they were. Although it seems their TA told them it was a 5 star ship where as they said it was lucky to be a 4..i think they were just expecting more. Mum sent me a heap of pics of their oceanview cabin, and the mattress was strained, the laminex was chipped and mum said the hair-dryer was out of the flinstones hehe :p You could only use it for like a minute and it got to hot to hold...BUT they loved the size of the room, they did say the bed was below the window as opposed to sideways where you can enjoy the view. I wonder why cruielines do that??

[Sandielle]

Err Jas,..... thanks for your reply, but I was asking about the Pacific Dawn - I know we were discussing the Volendam, but I thought I would get my question in here while I remembered it. :confused:

 

Re the placement of beds, also on the PD, we noticed that if the cabin would take 3 or 4 people the Queen or twin beds were against the windows. But, if it was a twin/queen cabin ONLY, the beds were against the side walls. This makes the cabin seem very large and you can actually lean on the window sill and gaze out to your heart's content. (A bit difficult if the bed is against the window.) :)

[cazz0069]

Err Jas,..... thanks for your reply, but I was asking about the Pacific Dawn - I know we were discussing the Volendam, but I thought I would get my question in here while I remembered it. :confused:

 

Re the placement of beds, also on the PD, we noticed that if the cabin would take 3 or 4 people the Queen or twin beds were against the windows. But, if it was a twin/queen cabin ONLY, the beds were against the side walls. This makes the cabin seem very large and you can actually lean on the window sill and gaze out to your heart's content. (A bit difficult if the bed is against the window.) :)

 

D`oh...my bad :p

[awayonaship]

HI there

 

Love the Volendam, went on in 2009 and are going again in December. We have teenagers who had a fantastic time.

 

We have also travelled with Princess and would put them as even, there are different things on each ship that we like best.

 

For value for money dont think that you can go pat them.

 

I am sure that your family will have a fantastic time if you choose this ship. :)

[rugbypopsie]

Thanks everyone...your info was really useful. It is hard to move away from Princess as I am spit away from the lovely black badge...but it seems that the Volendaam is the best choice for this trip.

 

I will let you know how I get on...I hate booking early but with this many of us travelling I am too nervous to wait too long...now the search for the best price begins in earnest.

 

Am hoping the AUD bounces back up...I knew I should have squirrelled away some dollars when it hit .93.

[Australian family]

We went on the Volendam last December as a family of 4. We had problems with airconditioning not working in our cabin, the sofa bed was broken which our youngest daughter had to sleep on. As I told them at the front desk the sofa bed needed throwing over the edge, it was very old and worn out. Also there was condensation in half the window.

 

We also had a lot of vibrations in our cabin, and then out of Wellington they had propellor problems, our cabin vibrated violently. They couldn't move us to another cabin, all they could offer was the use of a 3 berth inside cabin, even though there was 4 of us. We were on deck 2 right down near the aft, and unfortunately on the side this problem was. They had to fly somebody out from the US to fix it. After that which was only 2 nights the cabin hardly vibrated.

 

Also the elevators were always going out of order, one day myself and our oldest daughter were stuck in one.

 

From our observations they need to put it into drydock and give it a good going over. Are you aware that it is going into drydock May 2010?

 

On our cruise there wasn't many children, the girls enjoyed club Hal. But I was disappointed that they didn't do activities like what is advertised on Holland America's website - Pizza Parties, Ice Cream soda parties, we were told by Club Hal staff that it is against the policy of HAL to serve food to the children. I have just looked at their website and they don't advertise these parties anymore.

 

We did send HAL an email about all our concerns.

 

Our daughters did enjoy the cruise, even though some people did comment to us that Holland America doesn't normally have many children on it.

 

Also we had anytime dining, and initially they wouldn't seat us with anyone else for a few days even though we requesed to be seated with other people. Only after continual requests did we get to seat with other people. They don't seem to be keen on sitting families with other people. And from some of the reactions of the Americans (who outnumbered every other nationality) we figured out why they won't seating us with other people.

 

Would we cruise on the Volendam, yes but we would wait until after it has been in dry dock.

 

The staff were great.

[Australian family]

Also we never heard that much noise from deck 3, our biggest problem was the vibrations.

 

The room service is great, we would order coffee, tea, fruit juice, and fruit the night before to be delivered in the morning. Great having a nice hot coffee delivered to your room early in the morning. Reminded me of our honeymoon in Thailand when the butler would bring us coffee in the morning at a prearranged time.

 

Also do your shore excursions independently as it is soooo expensive through HAL especially with children

[rugbypopsie]

Thanks again for the info...pleased she is going into drydock...we are not sailing until Jan next year so she should be shipshape and ready for us.

 

We rarely do excursions through the ship and I think will mostly just beach it!!! The girls will love the little choo choo in Noumea.

 

With 7 or 8 of us sailing I dont think we will sit with anyone else...but grand nanna will probably babysit while we dine if we want a child free meal....however my gorgeous grand daughters have excellent manners so I would not be inflicting pain on anyone lol...

 

Its school hols when we go so I expect that there will be more children than usual on board but that is fine too.

 

Getting that "I"m going cruising feeling". Just got to convince "action man" (eldest son) who is definately a land fan..he has never cruised so he doesn't know what he is missing YET!

[The_Big_M]

Am hoping the AUD bounces back up...I knew I should have squirrelled away some dollars when it hit .93.

 

There is a fair amount of time to go, but on balance there's more scope for it to go lower than to go higher imo. i.e. Best case if everything stabilises again is that it goes up another 10 c. Worst case if things aren't sorted out is that it goes down 20 or so cents though. It's a gamble...

[Australian family]

Thanks again for the info...pleased she is going into drydock...we are not sailing until Jan next year so she should be shipshape and ready for us.

 

We rarely do excursions through the ship and I think will mostly just beach it!!! The girls will love the little choo choo in Noumea.

 

With 7 or 8 of us sailing I dont think we will sit with anyone else...but grand nanna will probably babysit while we dine if we want a child free meal....however my gorgeous grand daughters have excellent manners so I would not be inflicting pain on anyone lol...

 

Its school hols when we go so I expect that there will be more children than usual on board but that is fine too.

 

Getting that "I"m going cruising feeling". Just got to convince "action man" (eldest son) who is definately a land fan..he has never cruised so he doesn't know what he is missing YET!

 

I posted the wrong date for the drydock, sorry, it is May 2011.

[rugbypopsie]

Bugger about the dry dock date! Never mind I have booked...sprung for a balcony for us and a oceanview for son and kids...he was too nervous about the balcony and the kids:eek:

 

Been to the ports before except for the Isle of Pines..so I figured what I dont spend on excursions I will have a balcony instead.

 

Think I got a good deal from my favourite Victorian t/a with the overseas connections.

 

B6205 and E1874 if anyone has insider knowledge of these cabins. Have friends thinking about joining us. Volendaam looks like a lovely ship and I am excited about my first HAL trip.

 

p.s. I got tier credits for my Captains Circle stats..only one tier but better than nothing..

 

Hedging my bets with the USD I am going to put some dollars away and buy more in smallish lots if it keeps going up.

 

 

 

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

Bugger about the dry dock date! Never mind I have booked...sprung for a balcony for us and a oceanview for son and kids...he was too nervous about the balcony and the kids:eek:

 

Been to the ports before except for the Isle of Pines..so I figured what I dont spend on excursions I will have a balcony instead.

 

Think I got a good deal from my favourite Victorian t/a with the overseas connections.

 

B6205 and E1874 if anyone has insider knowledge of these cabins. Have friends thinking about joining us. Volendaam looks like a lovely ship and I am excited about my first HAL trip.

 

p.s. I got tier credits for my Captains Circle stats..only one tier but better than nothing..

 

Hedging my bets with the USD I am going to put some dollars away and buy more in smallish lots if it keeps going up.

 

 

 

 

 

So how do they convert your Captains Circle stats Rugbypopsie?

The trouble is with all the credits on various cruises is it is always an advantage to stick with the company because of the on board 'perks' that have been accrued over the years cruising with that company.

That's also why I like RCCL, because of our status our on board 'perks' are excellent.

 

Jillybean:)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

p.s. I got tier credits for my Captains Circle stats..only one tier but better than nothing..

 

What do you get for 1 tier.

I believe its all changed since we cruised with them.

Do you get a medallion?

or a special tile?

[rugbypopsie]

We got a bit off the price...mariner status at the first level, the welcome aboard lunch etc. etc. if you go to the HAL site it lays it out...all you have to do is to have sailed with Princess, Cunard, Seaborne etc. I will know more later and share whatever news.

I have never understood why Carnival does not have a loyalty program encompassing all its lines... the airlines can do it even with lines they don't own makes sense to me. I have heard that none of the programs are as generous as Princess' however I really don't know.

 

There is also a discussion about it on the HAL board...it is apparently fairly new even my favourite agent was not aware. Some of the early posters got it wrong..it is definately available.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

We got a bit off the price...mariner status at the first level, the welcome aboard lunch etc. etc. if you go to the HAL site it lays it out...all you have to do is to have sailed with Princess, Cunard, Seaborne etc. I will know more later and share whatever news.I have never understood why Carnival does not have a loyalty program encompassing all its lines... the airlines can do it even with lines they don't own makes sense to me. I have heard that none of the programs are as generous as Princess' however I really don't know.

There is also a discussion about it on the HAL board...it is apparently fairly new even my favourite agent was not aware. Some of the early posters got it wrong..it is definately available.

 

Thanks for that. I knew it had changed since we last cruised with them. We are now 3 tier . On the last cruise we were just a few days under the old 100 day Copper Medallion level, but they must have known it was changing so they gave us a a medallion.

Doesnt mean much, just another thing to dust on the shelf.

Good to see them recognising the cruises on other Carnival ships for a first booking on HAL. We had friends cruising with us last time who had been on Carnival and Princess, and when they enquired were told it did not apply to downunders.

[rugbypopsie]

Thanks for that. I knew it had changed since we last cruised with them. We are now 3 tier . On the last cruise we were just a few days under the old 100 day Copper Medallion level, but they must have known it was changing so they gave us a a medallion.

Doesnt mean much, just another thing to dust on the shelf.

Good to see them recognising the cruises on other Carnival ships for a first booking on HAL. We had friends cruising with us last time who had been on Carnival and Princess, and when they enquired were told it did not apply to downunders.

 

I booked O/S if that made a difference? I think it only applies to their "premium" brands, Cunard, Seabourne, Princess etc. but at least it is step in the right direction.