Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

LIVE: 14-Day Asian Holiday Cruise on Holland America's Volendam

travelinjones

By travelinjones,
in Holland America Line

 Share

Recommended Posts

travelinjones

travelinjones

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Day 1, Continued - Warm Cabins and Missing Passports

 

Back on board once more, we headed to our stateroom to unpack. When we first had arrived on the ship (about 1:30 pm) we had noticed that it was extremely warm in our ocean view cabin, but we figured the room just needed a chance to cool off after we moved the thermostat all the way to the coolest position.

 

However, it wasn’t any cooler by 4:30 pm, so we requested a fan from our cabin stewards. We headed out to the lifeboat drill, which was 25+ minutes long and very warm. Our friend’s cabin (located next to ours) was even warmer. The thermostat in their cabin did not even turn on or light up. Both of us had reported warm cabins to the front desk, which was swamped.

 

It turned out that there were three major issues the cruise staff was dealing with at the same time: 1) with the ship just coming out of dry dock, a number of passengers were reporting water and/or cooling issues. 2) The itinerary of this cruise required immigration documents and/or Visas for each passenger for three different countries: Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar. The cruise staff was working on the required paperwork for each passenger. 3) There are a number of different nationalities on board – with Australians, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, United States, German and Russian passports being dealt with, among others.

Passports were being collected as you boarded the ship, but if you were planning to go back out and explore Singapore before the 6 pm departure, you were allowed to keep your passport as you needed it to get out of immigration at the Singapore cruise terminal.

 

Somehow, some guests had failed to return their passports. As a result of missing passports, Singapore immigration refused to release the ship, and the announcements became increasingly frequent trying to track down those guests. Finally about 7:30 pm, all missing passports were located, and the ship was cleared and we departed.

 

Luckily, our first port of the cruise was Malacca, Malaysia, which is only about 150 miles away from Singapore, so the delay didn’t throw off the schedule.

 

Even with the fan, our room was still very warm, but we went ahead and unpacked before our 8 pm dinner, believing that our room would cool down. We have late fixed seating in the dining room. We were pleasantly surprised that our wine steward remembered us from our extended time on the Prinsendam in 2007. We were excited to see the new Wine Packages lists are available on this cruise.

 

Although our cabin was still warm, we choose to go to sleep and hope it cooled off by the morning.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
travelinjones

travelinjones

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I hope your cabin does cool down. It can be miserable otherwise. I took a cruise earlier this year right after a drydock. They just couldn't get it together. I'm not anxious to repeat the experience.

 

Good news - we were able to change cabins and all was well. Usually, we find warm cabins do cool down, but this one wasn't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
travelinjones

travelinjones

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Day 2 – Malacca, Malaysia

 

Malacca is a melting pot of cultures due to its history. The city was founded by Parameswara, the last king of Singapura who ruled from 1389 to 1398, and then fled after an invasion in 1398. He found a good port strategically located narrowest point of the Malacca Straits, where he established Malacca in 1402. The Portuguese captured Malacca in 1511, and then the Dutch defeated the Portuguese and ruled Malacca from 1641 to 1798. Under the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the Dutch ceded Malacca to the British in in exchange for Bencoolen on Sumatra. Read more fun facts about Malacca that we found here:

http://www.travelingwiththejones.com/2014/12/20/16-fun-facts-about-malacca-malaysia/

 

 

Due to the combination of jet lag and a warm cabin, we were awake at 4:30 am, so we got ready for an early departure off the ship to explore Malacca. This is a tender port, with the tenders taking passengers into the river channel near the historic old town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The ship used local tenders to supplement its own, to get folks on and off faster. Once we arrived in Malacca about 8:45 am, we found the city to be quite sleepy. We walked around. The city is a contrast of very old historic buildings and brand new high rises and condo buildings. It was quite humid; we found a beautiful hotel -- the Hattens – attached to a shopping mall. We enjoyed people-watching in the lobby until the mall opened, and we enjoyed an amazing coffee and pastry. The rain began, dampening our enthusiasm to continue our walk. We took a taxi through the old town, and worked our way back to the tender pick-up.

 

Back on board we headed to check out the DIVE-IN – the made to order hamburger and hot dog restaurant on the Lido Deck by the pool area. (This is new since our last Holland America cruise last Christmas.) Just as many have reported on Cruise Critic, the hamburgers were fantastic, a huge upgrade from the past.

 

Our cabin was still uncomfortably warm. While the front desk was quite crowded, eventually, we were offered another cabin nearby on Deck 2 to move to – which took a while since we unpacked. It was a good decision to move, we were much more comfortable.

 

Speaking of cabins, the ocean view cabins on Deck 2 were updated during the dry dock. The bathtub showers are gone, replaced by a glassed-in tub-sized shower, with a terrific rain head for a relaxing shower.

 

This evening was the captain’s welcome and the formal night menu in the dining room, but it was designated a casual night, saving the formal attire for Christmas Eve. At our table we enjoyed the shrimp cocktails, the cream of mushroom soup, and the Beef Wellington and Lobster tail (two different entrees - both delicious!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LAFFNVEGAS "Live from...." Rare

LAFFNVEGAS

Posted
Posted

 

It was a good decision to move, we were much more comfortable.

 

Speaking of cabins, the ocean view cabins on Deck 2 were updated during the dry dock. The bathtub showers are gone, replaced by a glassed-in tub-sized shower, with a terrific rain head for a relaxing shower.

This evening was the captain’s welcome and the formal night menu in the dining room, but it was designated a casual night, saving the formal attire for Christmas Eve. At our table we enjoyed the shrimp cocktails, the cream of mushroom soup, and the Beef Wellington and Lobster tail (two different entrees - both delicious!)

I am enjoying your Live From and looking forward to our Volendam in May. I am curious did they replace just the Showers in the Ocean View cabins on deck 2? We will be on Navigation Deck in a Vista Suite and would love to have the walk in shower. The tubs in the R and S Class ships are just so high and when your 4'11" they are actually hard to get into :eek:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
alibabacruisers

alibabacruisers

Posted
Posted

Thank you for doing a LIVE blog for your cruise on the Volendam! I am loving it! Sorry for the issues you have had, but you seem to be making the best of it! Your itinerary sounds very interesting and I will be definitely following! We have only travelled on HAL once and that was on the Volendam, which we really liked!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
travelinjones

travelinjones

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I am enjoying your Live From and looking forward to our Volendam in May. I am curious did they replace just the Showers in the Ocean View cabins on deck 2? We will be on Navigation Deck in a Vista Suite and would love to have the walk in shower. The tubs in the R and S Class ships are just so high and when your 4'11" they are actually hard to get into :eek:

 

We don't know the answer but will try to find out and report back.

 

The captain did mention that the dry dock cost $37 million and many pipes were replaced, Lanai cabins added, and the MIX was added, which is a very popular area. Solo Guitarist Michael and Piano Man Paul C McD both entertain there, with the guitarist between 5 and 9 pm and the Piano Man from 9 pm to close.

 

There is also an Adagio duo in the Explorer's Lounge (which is re-done but looks bare and incomplete with two widely different styles and colors of chairs.)

 

The Neptunes play in the Ocean Bar, and the Hal Cat often play in the Crow's Next.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
travelinjones

travelinjones

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Glad to hear you got another cabin and it is cooler, how about your next door friends? Thanks for the updates.

 

Yes, they were offered a new cabin late the first night, and since they hadn't unpacked yet, they quickly moved.

 

The staff seemed to try to do their best; they just had a difficult situation because of the numerous issues and dealing with the complicated VISAs at the same time

Link to comment
Share on other sites
travelinjones

travelinjones

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Day 3 – Penang, Malaysia

 

Penang is the second smallest state in Malaysia, and is composed of two parts – Penang Island and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. The ship docked very conveniently in Georgetown on Penang Island.

 

Penang was part of the Malay sultanate of Kedah until 1786, when Captain Francis Light built a fort at the site of present-day Georgetown and managed to get the island ceded to the British East India Company. Penang became the first British outpost in Southeast Asia in 1786. The island, along with Malacca and Singapore, was one of the three British Straits Settlements.

 

The capital of Penang, Georgetown, was named after King George III of Great Britain. Today, Penang has the highest population density in Malaysia and is the only state where the ethnic Chinese are the majority. Georgetown is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

For the ladies reading who like shoes, Penang is the birthplace of Jimmy Choo, who was born into a family of shoemakers and is said to have made his first pair of shoes at age 11.

 

To view all of our Fun Facts advance research on Penang, check out this blog post: http://www.travelingwiththejones.com/2014/12/21/14-fun-facts-about-penang-malaysia/

 

Penang is known for its food, and has a vibrant street food scene that is said to be second in the world only to Bangkok. We wanted to experience the food, but with a local expert to guide us. We booked a private food walking tour with Heritage on a Plate Food tours: http://www.heritageonaplate.com/the-tours/ for four people at a cost that converted to just over $50 US dollars per person.

 

Off the ship, we explored the nearby Fort Cornwallis (admission is about 80 cents per person) and then headed to our agreed on place to meet our food tour guide Jeremy. He is a charming guy from Boston who is living and working in Penang to become as expert in the cuisine to inspire his own future restaurant and/or food truck business back in the US.

 

During the next 4 hours we ate at all kinds of small restaurants or street stalls while we learned everything about the food, the history and what it is like to live in the local neighborhood.

 

While we never would have ventured to these places on our own, the food, the coffee, and the different fruit juice drinks were exceptional. One of our favorite drinks was nutmeg fruit – made from the fruit that grows around each nutmeg “nut”. None of us got sick later from any of the food, which Jeremy would acquire, explain and allow us to try up to our comfort zone.

 

Just a few of the many other dishes we tried included: Assam Laksa, the best known Penang dish, is a spicy noodley soup of poached mackerel in a broth with tamarind, lemongrass, chilies and shrimp paste, topped with rice vermicelli.

Mee Goreng consists of thin noodles fried together with garlic, onions, and meat, usually prawns or chicken,with chili, egg, cabbage and pickles.

 

Char Kway Teow is big flat rice noodles with prawns, cockles, beansprouts, Chinese chives, egg, soy sauce, chili, belacan (Malay shrimp paste), fried together in pork lard. THIS WAS OUR FAVORITE!)

 Laksa Lemak is a spicy currry-flavored noodle soup with coconut milk, shrimp or fish, chili paste and coriander.

 

Our day passed quickly, and soon it was time to head back to the ship. Penang is somewhere that we would like to visit again for a longer stay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LandlockedColorado

LandlockedColorado

Posted
Posted

I am thoroughly enjoying your commentary; thank you for all your time and effort! Am taking notes; dreaming of being able to use them. :)

 

A couple questions: What is the weather? Did you need local currency for tour and for admission to Fort Cornwallis? (Assuming it's hot and muggy and that, yes, local currency is required, but just want to verify :).)

 

Looking forward to more of your knowledgeable reports!

 

LC

Link to comment
Share on other sites
travelinjones

travelinjones

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Day 3, Continued – Penang, Malaysia and Christmas Eve

 

Back on board after a fun, filling food tour in Penang, we needed a shower and a nap before getting ready for the formal dress for Christmas Eve.

 

On Day 2 of the Cruise (Malacca) an excellent formal dining room menu was served that included Prawn cocktails, cream of mushroom soup, Beef Wellington or Lobster tail but the dress was casual, saving the formal attire for a festive Christmas Eve. Since we already had Pinnacle Grill reservations for Christmas Eve, we did not check out menu in the dining room, but in general we can report that the food and the service in the Rotterdam dining room have been exceptionally good.

 

While I was in the cabin getting ready, (Mr. Jones gets ready first, and then disappears to the bar), our friends Rick and James lured Mr. Jones to the casino. In a streak of Christmas Eve good fortune – they are won handily at the Black Jack table.

 

However, Mr. Jones will not likely be returning to the casino, as he was shocked by the policy that to collect your winnings (even $72) you have to set up a shipboard account with a Pin and provide personal information. When he objected, he was told that he could not be given his winnings without doing so; when he asked for a supervisor, he was told the supervisor “was not available.” Not a very consumer-friendly policy in the days where very little data in the world is truly “secure.”

 

I arrived and the four of us headed off to the Pinnacle Grill. Jakay, the Pinnacle Manager is a charming and gracious host. He was originally from Mumbai but now resides in Budapest. Between the four of us in our dining party, we enjoyed the prawn cocktails, the beefsteak tomato salad and the crab cakes with one of our chilled bottles of Veuve. (We’ve found our favorite bartenders CJ and James in The Mix are willing to chill our red-sticker bottles a few hours ahead of dinner.)

 

For our main courses – 3 petite fillets (which were cooked to perfection) and one King Salmon with a side of Béarnaise sauce, we ordered a special wine that we’ve always wanted to try – the 2011 Leonetti Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington’s Walla Walla Valley. (One of our favorite winemakers, Dave Rafanelli from Dry Creek Valley in California once told us that if we liked his wines, we had to try his friend Leonetti from Washington State’s wines.) It seemed like a good way to “spend” casino winnings rather than “donating” them back to the casino.

 

For dessert, our table tried: The Not-So-Baked Alaska, the Raspberry Cheesecake and the new Lemon Cream Brulee with blueberries. While it tastes okay, it is like a very thin custard pie in a crust – not at all like Cream Brulee. The favorite 3 flavors of Cream Brulee is gone from the Pinnacle Grill Menu, although there has been Cream Brulee offered on the main dining room dessert list multiple times.

 

After a fabulous dinner, we headed to the Sounds of Christmas, the International Christmas Choir in the Frans Hal Lounge. This is always one of our favorite events on a holiday cruise as it’s festive and you can tell the selected crew members pour their hearts into performing. The stage was filled with three groups, first who all sang carols together. Then the International Choir – which appeared to be mainly junior officers, cruise staffers and the professional singers and dancers performed a few numbers. Then they moved to the back of the stage and the Pilipino crew members sang a few carols, and got us rocking to Jingle Bell Rock. Finally, the Indonesian singers and musician’s performed.

 

They all sang a last Christmas song and proceed out through the aisles.

Meanwhile, in the Atrium on Decks 3, 4 and 5 there was an Around the World Buffet with Christmas treats of all kinds and eggnog and spiced run.

 

At midnight, there was both a Midnight Catholic Mass for guests and crew members in the main show lounge and Interdenominational Christmas Service in the Wajang Theater.

 

We headed to sleep with sweet dreams, planning to sleep in a little on Christmas day. Since it is a short port day in Phuket, Santa was scheduled to arrive at the ship at 7 am. While we’ve enjoyed witnessing the children’s excitement on past Holiday cruises, we will likely sleep through this one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
travelinjones

travelinjones

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Can you give us a rundown on who is who among the senior officers?

 

Captain: James Russel-Dunford (we've sailed with him on the Veendam and the Prinsendam before)

 

Hotel Manager: James Deering (who we remember from years ago on the Oosterdam - he gave one of the best wine-tasting presentations we've ever seen at sea.) He's not doing those anymore, but he did mention that he holds saki-tasting events on some cruises as he now lives in Japan.

 

Guest Relations Manager: Frances Totentino

 

Cruise Director: Linda Minnikin (we've previously sailed with her on the Prinsendam) If you've sailed with her before you will recall the "To-da-loo"

 

Peter Kofler is the Executive Chef

 

The Staff Captain: Nicholas Abraham Sanderland

 

Chief Engineer: Marcel Enthofen

 

Safety, Environmental and Health Officer: Peter Tukker

Link to comment
Share on other sites
travelinjones

travelinjones

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Did you spot the large monitor lizards on the banks of the river into Melaka?

 

They are very well camouflaged amongst the rocks.

 

Enjoying your reports, thanks.

 

No we missed those but we didn't know to look for them. Plus it was a rainy day and the ferry-tenders were fairly enclosed.

 

Thanks for sharing the insight!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...