Volendam condition - recent drydock?

[DaveOKC]

Looking at booking the Volendam.  I thought that I had read somewhere that she recently went though a drydock/remodel??  What condition is she in?

[summer slope]

We were on her the end of November to the middle of December.  I found her to be in great shape.  Some rust in places, but hey we old people have rust. LOL  You will enjoy your cruise on her.

[NCTribeFan]

There is a recent thread where someone linked to a YouTube video.  If you just search for Volendam in the thread titles, you should find it.  She looks wonderful.

 

I'll be on her in November to Hawaii.  My first HAL cruise was on Zaandam to Hawaii in 2010.  Loved the ship.  The smaller size and fewer venues/amenities isn't a concern for me in the least.

[StLouisCruisers]

6 minutes ago, summer slope said:

We were on her the end of November to the middle of December.  I found her to be in great shape.  Some rust in places, but hey we old people have rust. LOL  You will enjoy your cruise on her.

 

We were on Volendam with Dixie @summer slopeand have to agree that the condition of the ship was very good.  I didn't even notice the rust!  The crew was wonderful so you should have a great cruise.

[Spitz55]

I have just posted a review of our Volendam Amazon cruise, I do NOT recommend booking with Holland unless you are only committed to Holland as a cruise line.  The ship has a number of things broken that are just not being addressed from a/c, plumbing, broken water & ice machines the the buffet, no a/c, no hot water etc.  I would look elsewhere.  Very very bad experience

[OlsSalt]

Anytime an older HAL ship heads into the equatorial zones, one hears complaints about the A/C "not working". It probably does, but definitely not to the temperature range one prefers.  Ambient tropical air always feels warmer, no matter what the cabin temperature actually registers.

 

75 degrees can feel cold in the cabin when heading north (or Antarctica) and unbearably hot when sailing anywhere around the equator.Always thought going into the tropics with expectations one will avoid the tropics may be folly from the outset. 

 

Sorry you had a difficult time, but appreciate the warning for what others can expect. Bummer.

[jeff74]

We had a 10 day cruise on the Volendam over Christmas.  I was pleasantly surprised at the overall condition of the ship.  There were definitely a few issues that I heard about from others on board including a couple that had a leak in their room for multiple days but I kind of feel like those things unfortunately happen to some people on any cruise.  I did notice the broken water/ice machine in the Lido that was mentioned above and I had to crank the A/C to the lowest setting to feel comfortable for my taste (but my wife was happy since she likes the room warmer than me).  There were also multiple issues not related to the condition of the ship such as several pre-paid items missing in the ether for several days and my mom's assigned room being repurposed as a storage area and filled to almost the ceiling with toilet paper (she ended up being moved from an inside cabin to an ocean view so in the end I can't call that a negative).  In the end, all of the problems we encountered were sufficiently addressed, we had a relaxing time and I even managed to not lose money at the casino.

[luv2cruisenz]

We were also on the 28 day Volendam Amazon cruise and I thought the ship and crew were wonderful, and beautiful fresh flowers on display everywhere! Ryan the cruise & travel director was brilliant and gave interesting and useful destination talks. Yes there was the one broken hot water tap in one machine in the Lido but there are other places to get that so it wasn’t a biggie. Didn’t notice rust, maybe a few spots outside, so not unusual. Loved that the art works of the children of the Ukrainian refugees was on display the whole cruise. The crew seemed to feel like they worked together as a team, if that doesn’t sound too corny, but that comes from good leadership. The day we disembarked we joined the N.Statendam for a holiday cruise and although it was a bigger, newer ship with some advantages I missed the Volendam and wouldn’t hesitate to cruise on her again.

Edited January 17, 2023 by luv2cruisenz

[ottahand7]

We are now on day 21 of 81 days on the Volendam. This is a charming older ship that is one of the last the HA has to easily enter small ports. Carpet may be faded in halls but furniture and seating is excellent.  We sailed the New Statendam our last cruise. It is all about expectations. This ship was built in the 90s.  We love this small ship. One of the old complaints was about the TVs which are now large flat screens. Only ding is ocean view has only one outlet for charging but our Vista Suite has three. Food and beverage on this ship is at the top of a any we have had in HA. 

[DaveOKC]

3 hours ago, ottahand7 said:

We are now on day 21 of 81 days on the Volendam. This is a charming older ship that is one of the last the HA has to easily enter small ports. Carpet may be faded in halls but furniture and seating is excellent.  We sailed the New Statendam our last cruise. It is all about expectations. This ship was built in the 90s.  We love this small ship. One of the old complaints was about the TVs which are now large flat screens. Only ding is ocean view has only one outlet for charging but our Vista Suite has three. Food and beverage on this ship is at the top of a any we have had in HA. 

Great to hear!  I assume that the TVs in the Neptunes are also large flat screens now?  Also, do you have the new interactive TV menu?

 

[Intrepid2]

On the Volendam now.  The ship is cozy, crew great and food amazing. The TVs are same channel configuration as the Nieuw Statendam we sailed on last year just not as big. Every port, crew has been painting, cleaning, varnishing, carpet cleaning and even brass polishing.  The art and woodwork on her are fabulous. Same Pinnacle restaurant and World stage. The Dive In has fast service and a taco bar on lido is fabulous. The chef on board now produces better food than NS in our opinion. So, enjoy the ship and all it has to offer. 

[Crew News]

1 hour ago, Intrepid2 said:

.... The Dive In has fast service and a taco bar on lido is fabulous. The chef on board now produces better food than NS in our opinion. So, enjoy the ship and all it has to offer. 

GREAT NEWS!!

 

I will be boarding the Volendam on May 2d and am so happy that the Taco Bar is open.  Last I heard on the HAL form was that it was removed from HAL ships.

Edited April 13, 2023 by Crew News

[CaliforniaAC]

On the Volendam now. I was on the Rotterdam in November.

I think HAL started to cut cost in November, and the pendulum swung too far. On the Volendam it feels like it has swung back some.

 

The food is better, with more choices and much better quality, and not super skimpy portions. I have learned that if you ask for a larger portion when you order, you can get it. For example, "How many shrimp are in the shrimp cocktail? Three. Can I have six? No problem."

 

The condition and redecorating  they have done is beautiful. No complaints at all. The ship is quiet and smooth, and the staff is wonderful.

 

The air conditioning was a little warm when we got in. Engineering came in and changed the air filter, which helped. We're very comfortable now. Yesterday while we were in port they did routine maintenance on the air conditioning system. 

 

We were guests on the Volendam twice back in the day. We enjoyed her then, and we're enjoying her now. They have her scheduled out to Spring 2025, so I'm guessing she'll be in the fleet a little longer.

 

AC

[AV8rix]

Almost ALL comments good!  I haven't been on Volendam since 2019 (before pandemic pause) so these comments are making me confident that she's still in good shape.  I board the day after tomorrow -- well, providing that the Fort Lauderdale airport is functional by that time.  Nice to see that Roger @Crew News will be joining us in San Diego.

[Crew News]

1 hour ago, AV8rix said:

Almost ALL comments good!  I haven't been on Volendam since 2019 (before pandemic pause) so these comments are making me confident that she's still in good shape.  I board the day after tomorrow -- well, providing that the Fort Lauderdale airport is functional by that time.  Nice to see that Roger @Crew News will be joining us in San Diego.

Just heard that the weather for your departure is causing havoc in Fort Lauderdale.  Hope all goes well getting everyone aboard.

 

The aft balcony on Deck 6 will be a perfect location to enjoy the trip through the canal.

 

I look forward to any comments from those onboard and meeting CC members when I board.

[fsdj1097]

We are booked for the April 6th, 2024 sailing aboard Volendam.  This will be our first time to sail through the Panama Canal.  I am retiring in June of this year, and looking forward to longer cruises.  I will be following along to hear Crew News thoughts about Volendam.  Our first HAL cruise was in 1998 aboard Veendam, so looking forward to returning to a smaller HAL ship.

[Intrepid2]

3 hours ago, AV8rix said:

Almost ALL comments good!  I haven't been on Volendam since 2019 (before pandemic pause) so these comments are making me confident that she's still in good shape.  I board the day after tomorrow -- well, providing that the Fort Lauderdale airport is functional by that time.  Nice to see that Roger @Crew News will be joining us in San Diego.

A retired carnival Corp person told us the ship got new carpeting and furniture in main areas and it shows. The executive chef does a Lido Seafood Pot prepaid dinner once a cruise and after experiencing it, would highly recommend. The 3 course meal was superb and the crab legs delicious! Enjoy your cruise. 

[sfaaa]

14 hours ago, Crew News said:

GREAT NEWS!!

 

I will be boarding the Volendam on May 2d and am so happy that the Taco Bar is open.  Last I heard on the HAL form was that it was removed from HAL ships.

I was on Westerdam in Feb. It had alternate taco and ramen bar next to the pool on different days of the cruise. Both were delicious and complimentary.

[Cruising Is Bliss]

13 hours ago, CaliforniaAC said:

We were guests on the Volendam twice back in the day. We enjoyed her then, and we're enjoying her now. They have her scheduled out to Spring 2025, so I'm guessing she'll be in the fleet a little longer.

 

OH MY GAWD. I looked at HAL's website and the last Volendam cruise currently on the schedule ends in Fort Lauderdale on 1/25/25. Significant date because when HAL put out a poll for four possible routes for the 2025 GWC, option D was 1/25/25 to 6/07/25. And not technically a GWC. So, testing to see if it would be a popular option for the 2025 alternate to the world cruise?

 

1/25/25 to 6/07/25, FT. Lauderdale, all the way down to the Antarctic, all the way up to the edge of the Arctic Circle, back to FT. Lauderdale.

 

So, Grand World Cruise (either option A, B, or C) on the Zuiderdam, Grand Voyage (option D) on the Volendam?

 

[terrydtx]

From reading the above it looks like we made a good choice in booking the Volendam for August 2024 Boston to Montreal. We looked at similar cruises on Celebrity, Oceania and Viking but the Volendam had the best itinerary, and we got a great deal by booking early with the premium HIA promo. The Volendam was our first HAL cruise in 2007 and we loved the ship then.