Volendam - Alaska 8/3 Review

[cruzerca]

Just back from the Volendam 7d YVR/ Inside Passage Cruise.

 

We are in our early 40's with 2 children 9/12.

 

This was our first HAL cruise on a smaller ship. We have previously sailed on the Ooster and the Z. I found the service, condition of the ship, quality of food far superior to the bigger ships. On the downside the entertainment was far superior on the Vista class - and specifically was very bad on the Volen. But needless to say the real shining stars of this voyage are the ports and the scenery along the way. We were very fortunate to have incredible weather, other than Juneau. Blue skies, 70's and a few 80's - particularly in Glacier Bay, Unbelievable - we all sat on the aft deck until about 5pm, enjoying the views.

 

The passenger mix was the usual HAL crowd. 60% age 60+ and the rest a mix of 40's and 50's. About 200 kids I would guess. Mostly americans and about 10% European.

 

I would highly recommend the following Shorex:

 

1. Juneau - Mendenhall Glacier River Rafting. We were on the river on the highest flow day in the past 5 years - sue to all of the recent rains. At one point we hit some class 4 rapids. Cannot guarantee the river condition, but rai is good if you are interested in this trip. Best way also to get a pano view of the glacier. Another note - most of the helocopters and floatplans were cancelled due to weather. The Mt. Roberts tram is right next to the pier, it's not worth it to go up when the clouds and fog are at 200 ft, so I would advise not booking this thru HAL and play it by ear when you get there. Also, Juneau is mostly tourist junk stores and the annoying jewlery marts.

 

2. Skagway - WP & Y RR - Do it! Sit on your left leaving Skagway for best view. As you ascend, go outside and take in all of the scenery (if you are not afraid of heights) this was a thrill! Do the early 7:45am train up - no one on board! We did the dog sledding as well (Mushers camp). Similar experience to the tour on snow but far less in cost! And the helocopters are subject to cancellation/weather.

 

3. Glacier Bay - be ready as the scenery starts early around 10am. Head up to deck 8 (outside of the gym) for the best views (and less wind).

 

4. Ketchikan - The Jet boat/Go Kart. The jet boat is nothing nore than a boat ride to a remote inlet. Scenic, but nothing thrilling. But the go Karts were an absolute riot! In the middle of nowhere, you ride up on an old logging road (very scenic) we had an emergency stop as a bear crossed the road! to a waterfall and stream. Very fun! And on your way down as you approach the endpoint - punch it and catch some air off the man-made jumps! We ducked into the 4:15 lumberjack show. They actually start about 30mins later than advertised (4:45), and the sail time was at 6. It's a 1 hour show and literllay a 7 min walk to the ship. HAL wont book you for the 4:15 - but it's do-able if you can wlak fast back to the ship. About 30 of us did this. Again - more annoying jewlrey shops in Ketch.

 

Tracy Arm - somewhat scenic - but not the wow factor of Glacier Bay,

 

Pay attention to the naturalist (she makes frequent announcements about wildlife sightings). We saw pods of Orca's, Minkes, and Humpbacks and porpoise. Bears are hard to spot from the ship.

 

Overall - I would say HAL truly knows how to do AK - probably better than most other cruise lines. If you are an experienced HAL cruiser - it's the same 'ole HAL formula - very well delivered.

 

I'm a believer that your cruise experience depends on the management and service delivery of a particular ship - which all have differences - even with the cruisline's signature formula's. I think the Volen (Captn Pieter) is doing a superior job.

 

My only criticisms are the entertainment and the constant hard-sell of what I call the $1200 posters (they call it ParkWest Art @ Sea):

 

- Posters - who buys this stuff? These are lithographs (posters) of famous artworks selling for hundreds and thousands of $$. I can get these at the museum store or ZGallerie for maybe $50-100. There was a team of snake-oil salespeople pushing this stuff constantly - in the line at Lido, in the Pinnacle grill, on the decks while relaxing, notes stuffed under our dorr 2x a day. I finally pulled the manager aside to advise him to leave us alone. I know HAL gets a cut of this, but should seriously take control of this overzealous program - it degrades the prestige image HAL is trying ti instill in it's brand.

 

-Entertainment (aweful and targeting the 1950's generation) - ok Connie Francis's greatest hits? and a West Side Story medely? How many times can we hear Sinatra's NY NY - ugh. Compare the Volen to the Celebrity Galaxy that has a mini-Cirque du Soliel, magicians, jugglers etc. and also fits in the classics from the 50's and broadway. Mix it up - keep everyone happy formula.

 

I hope all future cruisers have the luck of the weather we had. This really made our trip spectacular.

 

Regards -

[Sage]

Thank you for your review. I enjoyed reading it. I love the Volendam, and true, their entertainment could use some improvement, but I agree with you that the true star is the scenery. We are so looking forward to our trip back to Alaska next year. Again, thank you for sharing your review.

[Hildavid]

Thanks for your insight on the Aug 3 Alaska cruise on the Volendam. We too were on this cruise and we feel much the same way. Our review is forthcoming along with some pictures. Best part of the trip is when we parked beside the Margerie Glacier. We were eating lunch in the Lido and just looking outside at this beautiful part of Glacier Bay was breathtaking.

[dogsdogs]

Thanks for the review. I absolutely agree about the art auctions and I always wonder who buys those overpriced posters. I have found that it is usually one of my table companions at dinner. I have stuck my foot in my mouth more than once. Now, I just smile if someone mentions the art auctions. They must be profitable or they wouldn't keep having them.

[Hildavid]

Our Alaska cruise from Vancouver to Alaska onboard Holland America's VOLENDAM was wonderful. We flew out of Calgary Alberta the morning of Wednesday, August 3, and arrived in Vancouver at 10:30 a.m. Took a $28.00 taxi ride from the airport to Canada Place, breezed through the check in line at the terminal and was on board by 11:40 a.m. After a quick walk around on the ship, we ended up in the Lido restaurant on level 8 for lunch. The announcement came at 1:20 saying our rooms were ready. We proceeded to our inside room cabin 2612. As we were checking our room out, our luggage arrived so we unpacked and were ready for the 7-day cruise by 2:15.

 

Stateroom 2612:

This was our first inside cabin and we were pleasantly surprised by the size and the spacious feeling of the room. It was midship, just around the corner from the stairs/elevator. Our concerns about being next to the laundry room was unfounded. No sounds at all. There was a staff staircase between our room and the laundry room. Occasionally we could hear faint footsteps running up/down the staircase, but only a few times during the entire cruise. We didn't see our cabin steward until day 2 or 3.He put an extra bottle of water in our room one day and left a receipt for $2.00. We did not order the water, and it took us 2 more days to track him down to have it removed from our bill. (which it was) The room was always looked after and we had towel animals on 2 of the nights. (I think the formal nights)

 

The ship:

The Volendam is noticeably a much smaller ship than the Oosterdam we sailed previously. At 781 feet long it is almost 200 feet shorter and has 400 less guests and staff. The smaller size was most noticeable in the Frans Hals showroom and the Rotterdam Dining room. Nevertheless, there was plenty of room for everyone and we did not feel crowded at all. The Volendam does have an outdated look to it. The colours and soft hues around the showroom, main foyer, even the bathroom tile could use an updated look and we thought the main display of a neon lighted column in the main foyer was tacky as was the display of plaques and such on the hallway close to the Marco Polo Restaurant. The ship was very clean, no foul smells. One of the elevators got stuck one night, trapping a young fellow inside, but was looked after immediately after we called for assistance. We did not like the inroom safe. To lock and unlock the door, you needed to swipe a credit card. Of course, the use of the safe was free, and the cc was just to open and lock the safe, but by using a credit card, you always had a credit card on you. We found the public washrooms around the ship to be very spacious, plentiful and very well maintained. Deck 3 is your outside walking deck, where 3 1/2 laps equal 1 mile. No jogging allowed on this deck, just continuous non stop walking. All in all, we really liked the Volendam and would travel on it again with no hesitation.

 

The food:

We found the food in the Rotterdam Dining Room very good. We had every dinner meal in the Rotterdam Dining Room (the main dining room) with 2 great couples, Don and Marlon from Minneapolis and Bruce and Judy from Burlington, Ontario. We had the early 5:30 sitting in the upper dining room, at table 34, right at the aft. Wonderful table but had to draw the curtains a few nights, as the sun was very hot beating into the room. The servers were wonderful. Actually we had the best service of our 2 previous cruises on this one. There was open seating on the night in Juneau, but found it nicer to be dining with our regular dining mates. We had room service for our first breakfast (yes, we had a light breakfast in our room, before getting mobile and going upstairs for the main breakfast). On two mornings the breakfast came 15 minutes early. It actually woke us up one morning. We were not impressed. We had a few lunches in the Lido Restaurant on level 8. The selection was disappointing as was the hours of operation. There were many times when no food was available at all.The hamburgers, pizza and tacos from the grill area were all enjoyed very much.

 

Shore Excursions:

 

Juneau: Not much to do right in the town of Juneau. It is a one street town. It was raining this day but not too cold. We went up in the Mount Roberts Tram, walked around the top of the mountain and came down, walked around town, then back to the ship. Don't Miss; The Red Dog Saloon. The joint was hopping when we went in.

 

Skagway: A much bigger town than Juneau. We did the White Pass Railway. It was a great trip with wonderful weather and scenery. Don't Miss; A stream just packed with salmon runs beside the sidewalk just beyond the downtown area. It was fun to watch the salmon going upstream.

 

Ketchican: The largest of the 3 towns. We spend a few hours shopping in the morning and in the afternoon, did the floatplane tour and with a beautiful day, totally enjoyed the 2 hours that this tour took. We even landed on a lake in the middle of the mountains and got off the plane and stood on the pontoon of the plane. AWESOME.

 

Ship Day on day 2. We cruised Tracy Arm, seeing all of the broken off ice chunks from the icebergs. We saw the wonderful colours of the ice (blue, green) on this chilly, rainy day.

Ship Day on day 4. We cruised Glacier Bay and got real close to Margerie Glacier.

 

Entertainment:

Always had lots to do in the course of a day. Of course, if you want to curl up on a sofa and do nothing that is totally cool also. We attended all of the evening showroom shows. Found the big production shows a bit below average from past cruises. The juggler was good, the magician was just OK. Played Name That Tune every night in the Crowsnest. Even won the Country Music one. Elaine got down to waiting for one number in the big Bingo jackpot the last day. Just about won the $3700.00 US :)

 

In Summary:

Alaska is a great cruise for people looking for great scenery and a little out of the ordinary shore excursions. (Dog sledding??) The Volendam was a great ship for this trip and not having an outside room did not matter. The people you meet, the staff that serve you and your attitude on what you want to get out of the trip will make it or break it. In this case, it definitely made the trip.

 

See the pictures <a href="http://community.webshots.com/user/hildavid"> here</a>.

[Sage]

Hildavid,

 

Thank you for your review as well. I enjoyed reading it very much. I noticed your comment about the credit card needed to open and close your safe. The safe will take any magnetic strip card except for your room key. We use our AAA card, and it works great. I can understand your concern about having to use your credit card.

[shipcafe]

Ships having gone through SOE see a noticeable enhancement of the entertainment. Sailing the Ryndam after her SOE myself, I was truly impressed by the quality of the productions compared to what used to be.