ms Voldendam

[swokie]

We are in the initial planning stages of a cruise to Alaska next year. My friends have had a lot of experience with Carnival Cruise line, however, Carnival does not offer the itinerary of Glacier Bay and the Canadian inside passage, which everyone on CC is recommending. Does anyone have experience with the cruise offered by Holland America on the ms Voldendam. Also how difficult would it be to travel from Seattle to Vancouver to the pier? Does Holland make any arrangements for this type of transfer or do we do it independently? Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

[goodearth]

We just did this independently......took Amtrak to Vancouver and a taxi from the train station to Canada Place. Buy a business class ticket on the train-you are first on and first off which saves a lot of time. Taxi will drop off right at customs for the ship. Another option is Quick Shuttle bus service between Seattle and Canada Place. The Volendam was a great ship--no complaints. We lacked visibility on much of the inside passage due to weather (rain, low clouds) and some of it is traversed at night--so you don't see it then either! Keep an eye out for marine life--they don't mind the weather! You will enjoy your trip..........

[kjoeb]

. Does anyone have experience with the cruise offered by Holland America on the ms Voldendam.

we just sailed the volendam from 8/31 to 9/10 and had an excellent cruise. a couple of cruisers did not share our experience. weather in alaska will always be a big factor, so be prepared for rain and clouds. we found good attitudes, clean facilities and very good food. try the Canaletto restaurant (free). i also believe we get much better service in the MDR when we choose a fixed time. the waiters get to know your favorites. my niece enjoyed the spa , working out daily. this cruise worked well for us. kb

[erewhon]

We have twice flown 15 plus hours to Vancouver to board the Volendam and sail the Inside Passage.

A great experience for a brief visit to Alaska on a fabulous ship.

Would be happy to do so again.

[Copper10-8]

Volendam left Alaska (after completing her season there) on 07 SEP, already stopped in L.A. (Long Beach) and made three port calls in Hawaii. She's now on her way to Polynesia and Australia/New Zealand where she'll spend the (Western Hemisphere) winter months.

 

She'll be back in Alaska in 2012 though, starting on 02 MAY 12

You can't go wrong selecting an Alaska cruise on her!

[1of4]

I am biased as I just sailed the Volendam a few weeks ago and loved the ship, the cruise, and the overall experience. This was our first cruise on HAL but we will book more now that we know it fit our family style so well. The kids are asking every few days "have you booked yet"!

 

I reviewed the cruise here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberre...?EntryID=88671.

 

Let me know if you have any questions. We would book again for next summer if we didn't have to fly across country first as that doubled the cost for us. We flew from Toronto to Seattle and spent 3 days there before going up to Vancouver to catch the cruise; there are a lot of options and it is a well travelled route. We booked in early November 2010 and the kids were $99 each for the week. The fares doubled before we sailed.

 

Let me know if you have any questions. I can only share my experience, from my point of view, but for my family of 4 the cruise was a great family holiday.

[Tweedy]

I wish I had the same sentiments as the previous posters regarding this ship. I was only on the ship for 3 days but that was enough for me to know I don't think I'd sail this particular ship again.

 

Pros: It was the smallest passenger capacity I have sailed and I liked the size. There never seemed to be a big issue about finding a place to sit.

 

Cons: I found the ship very dark, bland and very quiet. There wasn't many activities to do during the day. I felt it lacked in the entertainment area. I guess I expected a production show much like you see on the larger ships. Having travelled on the Zuiderdam a couple of years ago, I expected the same great service, etc. We didn't have that. The food was okay, not great. I've definitely enjoyed better and have had worse. The cruise was a let down. I was thankful I wasn't continuing on the journey after the 3-days down the coast from Vancouver to LA.

 

I don't like posting a negative comment but felt the need to give you my recent personal opinion/experience.

 

Alaska is beautiful so I'm sure you will enjoy your cruise no matter what.

[erewhon]

Tweedy,

 

Thank you for the link to your photos.

 

Sorry you did not enjoy your time on board the Volendam.

We thoroughly enjoyed our 36 days on her last year.

We will again be on board later this year, so will be interesting to compare the experience with our previous cruises on her.

[Bellair]

. Does anyone have experience with the cruise offered by Holland America on the ms Voldendam.

we just sailed the volendam from 8/31 to 9/10 and had an excellent cruise. a couple of cruisers did not share our experience. weather in alaska will always be a big factor, so be prepared for rain and clouds. we found good attitudes, clean facilities and very good food. try the Canaletto restaurant (free). i also believe we get much better service in the MDR when we choose a fixed time. the waiters get to know your favorites. my niece enjoyed the spa , working out daily. this cruise worked well for us. kb

 

Here are a collection of my videos on the Volendam showing the ship & ports, just click the links below

 

Enjoy!

[Yungs]

I wish I had the same sentiments as the previous posters regarding this ship. I was only on the ship for 3 days but that was enough for me to know I don't think I'd sail this particular ship again.

 

Cons: I guess I expected a production show much like you see on the larger ships. Having travelled on the Zuiderdam a couple of years ago, I expected the same great service, etc. We didn't have that. The food was okay, not great. I've definitely enjoyed better and have had worse. The cruise was a let down. I was thankful I wasn't continuing on the journey after the 3-days down the coast from Vancouver to LA.

 

Totally agree with Tweedy here. Just got off the Volendam yesterday after a 14 day Aust/NZ cruise - probably should have done my homework better but the lack of production shows caught us by surprise and was very disappointing. Food was excellent but overall cruise was a let down and we were pleased to be getting off. Have never felt that way about a cruise before! Cruise director stumbled constantly on his words and seemed to be working hard to get his speech out, not at all easy/pleasant to listen to. He had a silly little "Too-roo" tagline that he would sign every single PA off with. Funny at first but as the cruise wore on, it got really annoying!

 

Overall, the staff did try hard and were friendly and helpful but lack of production shows and stuff to do left us disappointed. Have cruised Celebrity and Princess a few times before and never found that to be the case.

[boards]

Was there entertainment in the place of a production show or nothing at all?

[Yungs]

There were smaller scale performances by the HAL singers - 5 singers I think, and they filled the stage up with a piano and the band, no props. The vocals were good but you really had to like what they were singing, or else there was little left to like. We are younger (late 30's and early 40's) so songs from the 1920's really do little for us. I guess most of the crowd liked that sort of thing so HAL is only catering to the market. But for the people who liked the big productions, they were disappointed. I only wish I had done my homework better before booking.

I should point out that they had one show called Amore - that was really good and I wish they'd done more in that style. A lot of amazing singing, classical songs and we saw that one twice.

 

In between, they had the usual guest performers - magician/comedian/juggler etc. They were good too, but the juggler told a lot of very adult sexual jokes that were definitely NOT suitable for young ears. He knew the kids were there too, as they were sitting in the front row.

[boards]

We had that kind of thing happen on the Noordam in the Caribbean last year too. It was okay.

[Osmosis Jones]

Who was the Cruise Director?

Will keep an ear out for the too-roo in March;):)

 

We hardly ever go to the shows - looked in on one once and it looked like the dancers needed poles!:eek::D LOL

[Yungs]

David Griffiths - an Aussie, so I suppose I really should be more supportive of him... :o but I just didn't like him. Cruise directors have never really made an impression on me - they did their thing and that was that, but this one will be stuck in my memory for a while, and not for the right reason!

 

Oh and I dont know if he was poorly trained, or had finger trouble, or was it HAL policy? But every single morning we'd be rudely awoken by his PA's coming into our cabins when the ship docked, telling us that we couldn't bring food into New Zealand. I know that this is an important message, but we have done the same itinerary twice before on the Diamond and Sapphire Princess, and they didn't wake me up like that. They might have made the announcement a couple of times outside the rooms to ensure that everyone heard it, I can't remember. But if I am trying to have a sleep-in, because after all I am on holidays, I don't want to be awoken at 7am every morning with your announcement coming into my cabin. This stopped halfway through the cruise (phew!) so maybe he got educated.

[erewhon]

David Griffiths - an Aussie, so I suppose I really should be more supportive of him... :o but I just didn't like him. Cruise directors have never really made an impression on me - they did their thing and that was that, but this one will be stuck in my memory for a while, and not for the right reason!

 

Oh and I dont know if he was poorly trained, or had finger trouble, or was it HAL policy? But every single morning we'd be rudely awoken by his PA's coming into our cabins when the ship docked, telling us that we couldn't bring food into New Zealand. I know that this is an important message, but we have done the same itinerary twice before on the Diamond and Sapphire Princess, and they didn't wake me up like that. They might have made the announcement a couple of times outside the rooms to ensure that everyone heard it, I can't remember. But if I am trying to have a sleep-in, because after all I am on holidays, I don't want to be awoken at 7am every morning with your announcement coming into my cabin. This stopped halfway through the cruise (phew!) so maybe he got educated.

 

Apparently it is a legal requirement to make the announcement every morning of a New Zealand port call, before passengers go ashore.

 

The announcement was also made on arrival in Sydney.

 

Unfortunately some passengers believed that they were exempt and attempted to bring food/fruit into the country, which was confiscated by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture officials.

When we went ashore in Auckland we were pleased to see the MAF dog checking passengers.

[RuthC]

When we went ashore in Auckland we were pleased to see the MAF dog checking passengers.

I've got a little story to tell about those cute little dogs.

 

I always travel with some Milk Bone Dog Biscuits. You just never know when you're going to meet up with a dog you need to make friends with quickly.

We were constantly advised to bring NO, as in NADA food ashore. Don't even think about it! And so I didn't bring the dog biscuits ashore.

Well, one day I decided to try and see if I could get one or two off the ship. Easy as pie. Next time I tried taking a few more. That's when I saw that cute little beagle heading my way. Oh-oh. He came sniffing along, and walked straight on by me! Never gave my dog biscuits a glance!

Those dogs are trained to sniff for people food, and that's exactly what they do!

[erewhon]

I've got a little story to tell about those cute little dogs.

 

I always travel with some Milk Bone Dog Biscuits. You just never know when you're going to meet up with a dog you need to make friends with quickly.

We were constantly advised to bring NO, as in NADA food ashore. Don't even think about it! And so I didn't bring the dog biscuits ashore.

Well, one day I decided to try and see if I could get one or two off the ship. Easy as pie. Next time I tried taking a few more. That's when I saw that cute little beagle heading my way. Oh-oh. He came sniffing along, and walked straight on by me! Never gave my dog biscuits a glance!

 

Those dogs are trained to sniff for people food, and that's exactly what they do!

 

Thank you for your story.

Those dogs are very well trained.

 

A few years ago, we were returning from Australia, the dog stopped beside me, I knew that there was no food in my bag, but I had had a banana in my bag two days before travelling. The officer checked my bag, said that the dog can pick up the scent even a few days later.

Very clever.

 

I will have to get some of those dog biscuits to have in my pocket when I go for my morning walk.:)