Holland American - Volendam Opinion - Anyone been on it in the past two years

[Longwood50]

Looking at a cruise on Holland America.  I see one I am interested in to the Greek Islands but it is on the Volendam.  Took a cruise in Asia 3 years ago on the Volendam and it was terrible.  The ship had just come out of dry dock where it was "refurbished"  Despite very hot temperatures the air conditioning throughout the ship was not functional.  At times the main dining room temperature got above 30 making dining extremely uncomfortable.  Same was true for the staterooms.  The toilets throughout the ship were also out of service the majority of the time.  I often had to go back to the stateroom since none were open on decks.  Numerous other problems including the ship being very dirty.   I would be willing to "try again" but wondering if someone has been on the Volendam recently.  I use that term recently "loosely" since obviously no one has been cruising in the past year. 

[KirkNC]

As you point out, no one has sailed on her in over a year.  It does bring an interesting question to my mind, what is the impact of no use on these older ships.  If they were smart, they would have used this down time to repair every possible thing they can but that costs money.  Be interesting to see what happens to a toilet that hasn’t been used in a year or sudden demand on AC units that have been largely idle.

[Mary229]

I have not but was scheduled for the Fall of 2020 so watched carefully.  Since the pandemic it has gone through a major dry dock and has been upgraded to some of the modern standards.  I would assume that in 2022 it is going to be as good as it ever will be.  It is a small ship and can visit ports that the larger ships cannot.

[kwb101]

We were on her January and February 2020 for 41 nights on the Grand South American and Antarctic voyage and were delighted with the ship's condition throughout. She was immaculate, all systems worked as advertised, the crew was splendid, and we were very pleased that our OV cabin had had the bathtub replaced with a large stall  shower. We were in 3320 on the Lower Promenade deck, and couldn't  ask for better. 

We're booked for another 83 nights on her next year, and are very glad that HAL didn't scuttle her along h with the rest of the S and R classes. 

Edited April 3, 2021 by kwb101

[kazu]

4 hours ago, Longwood50 said:

The ship had just come out of dry dock where it was "refurbished" 

 

I think this may have been a big part of the reason you had problems.  There can be issues on any first cruise after a ship’s drydock.  Often some stuff is being worked on and hasn’t been finished.

 

Sage advice has been given by many here not to take the first cruise after a drydock. 

[Sir PMP]

Did the final cruise on her, ending March 20th 2020, 79 days circle S.America. Everything was working and the ship was in great condition. The only problem was that the Crow's nest closed at 7:30pm, no music etc. and the Lincoln center, which replaced the beautiful explorer's lounge was empty all day and only had people during a 45 minute concert, just a waste of space..

[kwb101]

3 hours ago, Sir PMP said:

Did the final cruise on her, ending March 20th 2020, 79 days circle S.America. Everything was working and the ship was in great condition. The only problem was that the Crow's nest closed at 7:30pm, no music etc. and the Lincoln center, which replaced the beautiful explorer's lounge was empty all day and only had people during a 45 minute concert, just a waste of space..

We enjoyed the Lincoln Center performances on occasion, but did miss the Explorer's lounge. Also, the loss of the library, which had all the comfy furniture removed and got filled with tables for various games, which also made the space much less quiet.

We disembarked at Buenos Aires, but are continuing the trip next year.

[Sir PMP]

57 minutes ago, kwb101 said:

We enjoyed the Lincoln Center performances on occasion, but did miss the Explorer's lounge. Also, the loss of the library, which had all the comfy furniture removed and got filled with tables for various games, which also made the space much less quiet.

We disembarked at Buenos Aires, but are continuing the trip next year.

Well, at least you got to watch Savanna Jack..

[rkacruiser]

11 hours ago, kwb101 said:

We were on her January and February 2020 for 41 nights on the Grand South American and Antarctic voyage and were delighted with the ship's condition throughout. She was immaculate, all systems worked as advertised, the crew was splendid

 

 

I sailed on Volendam during her Christmas/New Year's cruise immediately prior to the Grand South American and Antarctic voyage.  I support 100% what the above poster has said.  My stateroom was on Dolphin Deck, portside, just aft of the forward elevators/foyer.  No A/C or plumbing issues whatsoever.  

 

I hope that the maintenance crew that has been on the Volendam these past months will have kept the vessel in excellent condition.  

[Loreto]

We sailed on her on the 30 day Amazon Explorer Nov.-Dec. 2019 and found her to be in perfect condition, as has been echoed by other posters.  Temperature was not a problem throughout the ship, even with the heat of the Amazon River.   We had a Neptune Suite and were very pleased with the beautiful condition and terrific crew.   We sailed her to in Alaska in 2017 in a verandah and had no complaints about that cruise either.  The Volendam is the prefect size.

 

Speaking of dry dock, in 2012 we sailed on the Prinsendam Amazon Explorer which came hours late directly from dry dock to Ft. Lauderdale and there were many problems with lack of A/C on the lower decks.  We experienced no problems with our verandah or public rooms, but for many it was a horrible voyage and everyone was given a significant future cruise credit.  So beware of being the first cruise after dry dock!

[Btimmer]

We, too, were on the 2019 Amazon cruise noted above along with the two week Caribbean cruise that followed.  For the first cruise we were in a window stateroom and for the second we were in an inside stateroom.  The ship was in wonderful condition and we had a terrific time.  Over the years, the Volendam ranks among the top two HAL ships we've cruised on in terms of days sailed (the Maasdam is the other) and we've been totally satisfied with its condition. 

Edited April 4, 2021 by Btimmer

[rucrazy]

The last cruise we were on was the ms Volendam Holiday cruise last Dec 20, 2019 - Jan 5, 2020 Southern Caribbean.

I thought the ship was fine....crew was a little sloppy but nothing to write corporate about.

 

Joseph

[rucrazy]

18 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

I sailed on Volendam during her Christmas/New Year's cruise immediately prior to the Grand South American and Antarctic voyage. 

We must have seen you guys around the ship... We were on that cruise as well.

 

Joseph

Edited April 4, 2021 by rucrazy
sign my post

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I sailed on the Volendam RT to Alaska from Vancouver in June 2019 and like the others had no problems. 

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, rucrazy said:

We must have seen you guys around the ship... We were on that cruise as well.

 

Joseph

 

I was a HH "resident" at the Ocean Bar's bar most days.  Met some great people there as well as crew members, some of whom remembered me from previous cruises.  Ours was a great cruise!

[rucrazy]

9 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

I was a HH "resident" at the Ocean Bar's bar most days. 

We camped out underneath the covering pool deck bar..

Joseph

[rkacruiser]

5 minutes ago, rucrazy said:

We camped out underneath the covering pool deck bar..

Joseph

 

Were you as surprised as I was that when we returned to Port Everglades we were docked at Pier 4?  I had my car that the Mid-Port Parking Garage and that proved to be an "interesting", but successful with not as much stress as I expected, to get a taxi from that terminal to my car.  (It was a costly experience, however, with the taxi driver taking me on such a short trip, but, he did take me to my car in the Garage.  Which was most appreciated!)

[rucrazy]

23 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

Were you as surprised as I was that when we returned to Port Everglades we were docked at Pier 4? 

Sorry I really never pay attention.. when we cruise out of FLL we park at Park and fly.. they provide free shuttles... and they know what ship we come in on ... I just have to call and say "pick us up" and they do... then jump on 95 and we are on our way home....

 

Joseph

[zelker]

On 4/3/2021 at 8:04 PM, Loreto said:

We sailed on her on the 30 day Amazon Explorer Nov.-Dec. 2019 and found her to be in perfect condition, as has been echoed by other posters.  Temperature was not a problem throughout the ship, even with the heat of the Amazon River.   We had a Neptune Suite and were very pleased with the beautiful condition and terrific crew.   We sailed her to in Alaska in 2017 in a verandah and had no complaints about that cruise either.  The Volendam is the prefect size.

 

The last time we were on Volendam was at the end of 2018 and we were in a Vista suite.  We're booked on her for 27 days in the fall this year and again for 35 days in the summer of 2022 - all in a Neptune.  Have they installed the big flat panel TV over the couch?  What about the interactive TV?  Do you have any photos by any chance?

 

Thanks!

Edited April 30, 2021 by zelker

[kazu]

5 minutes ago, zelker said:

The last time we were on Volendam was at the end of 2018 and we were in a Vista suite.  We're booked on her for 27 days in the fall this year and again for 35 days in the summer of 2022 - all in a Neptune.  Have they installed the big flat panel TV over the couch?  What about the interactive TV?  Thanks!  Do you have any photos by any chance?

 

Thanks!

 

Yes to both your questions.  I went looking a while ago to find out but I don’t have the photos, sorry.

 

I am just going by research, posts etc.  Haven’t been on her for some time.

 

From the HAL website:

 

 

[zelker]

20 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Yes to both your questions.  I went looking a while ago to find out but I don’t have the photos, sorry.

 

I am just going by research, posts etc.  Haven’t been on her for some time.

 

 

Hi, Jacqui - well, IF I would have checked HALFACTS first, I would have found photos from the end of 2019 that in fact confirm there's a large screen TV installed over the couch now. And from what you quoted from the HAL site, it looks like it's the full interactive system that's found on the Vista-class and above ships. 👍

[KarefreeKaren]

On 4/3/2021 at 4:56 AM, kwb101 said:

We were on her January and February 2020 for 41 nights on the Grand South American and Antarctic voyage and were delighted with the ship's condition throughout. She was immaculate, all systems worked as advertised, the crew was splendid, and we were very pleased that our OV cabin had had the bathtub replaced with a large stall  shower. We were in 3320 on the Lower Promenade deck, and couldn't  ask for better. 

We're booked for another 83 nights on her next year, and are very glad that HAL didn't scuttle her along h with the rest of the S and R classes. 

I have two long cruises coming up in 22 and 23 (So America).   I love the lower promenade deck for location and have been in that same area on the Maasdam. Just wondering, it appears 3320 is next to an outdoor access— did you have excessive noise? I’m thinking the traffic is probably light due to being far forward.  

[Edhug55]

Does anyone know if the Volendam has a free sauna?

[rkacruiser]

17 hours ago, Edhug55 said:

Does anyone know if the Volendam has a free sauna?

 

Yes, I recall that it does, but, I have not used it.  It's located along the corridor from the Greenhouse Spa to the mid-ship's pool as I recall.

 

If others' memories are better than mine:  please post!

[Edhug55]

Thanks for that info. I truly enjoy a nice hot sauna when traveling to colder climates. Thinking of doing an Antarctica trip next year.