Volendam?

[VegasRealtor]

Hi everyone,

 

We recently returned from our 18 day Panama Canal cruise aboard the Westerdam (we disembarked in LA). A VERY short review - it was wonderful!! Remond cruiser set up the Cruise Critic member's meeting in the Crow's Nest - thanks Ron! And to Chazz for starting the roll call thread! Everything was wonderful from start to finish. We highly recommend the Westerdam and any of the Vista class ships. Incidently, we had one of the best room stewards ever - Julie on the 5th deck.

 

My reason for posting is - we are considering a December cruise on the Volendam from Ft Lauderdale. From the deck plans, it looks almost like a smaller version of a Vista class, with no outside elavators. It seems to have many of the features we like on the Vistas. We have never been on the smaller ships. I know other members have posted regarding V'Dam many times in the past. Has anyone been on her recently? Please help!

 

Dave:D

[venicecruiser]

I was on Volendam in March. Beautiful ship with a great crew!

 

Claudia

[Randyk47]

We were on the Volendam in February and loved her.....maybe our new favorite HAL ship...until the next cruise. :) Seriously, we've been on all three "classes" or versions of HAL's ships. We started on the Ryndam then over to the Oosterdam and most recently the Volendam. We prefer the smaller ships over the Vista class and the Volendam seemed to be a great balance. See some pictures from the Volendam: www.geocities.com/theklugspage .

[Logoladytcs]

I was on the Volendam in from April 2- 18th - Panama Canal cruise - it was amazing. The ship is elegant, the new upgrades terrific. the crew is so nice and helpful.

 

Wish I was going with you!!

 

Barbara

[Maryandi]

We have been on the Volendam 2x and the only ship we repeated, it is great. Get a cabin near the mid-ship elevators and you are close to everything.

 

Have fun, M. A.:)

[sail7seas]

We love Volendam. Sailed her in October before her SOE upgrades and again in January after her drydock. She looks fabulous. She has always been a really beautiful ship IMO and is even more comfortable. We'd sail her again without hesitation.

 

When you say the same as Westerdam in layout, that isn't really true. While her public rooms have the same name, the location and layout are often different. Her dining room is two lovel but layed out differently as her starboard windows look out to the sea.....not to walkers on Promenade as on Vista ships.

 

Her Ocean Bar is quite different. We love VODM's Ocean Bar.....actually, we really like all the Ocean Bars on all the ships. :)

 

Volendam seems to be a ship about which we read very few complaints.

I'm sure a good part of that is because of her fabulous crew!!!

 

 

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Although we have not been on the Volendam since her SOE, we have sailed on her and love her.

 

I love the idea that you also have midship elevators. And you can enter the dining room from both starboard and port sides compared to the Vista class ships where you can only get there on the starboard side. The lounges are a lot more intimate.

[lka1012]

We would love to have you join us on the Fuzzy Slipper cruise Dec 3-13. The Vol is a great ship.

[RedmondCruiser]

Hello Dave and Diane, Glad to see your contemplating another cruise. As far as the "R" class ships - they are great and are our favorites. We have been on the Zaandam, Amsterdam and the Volendam. You will enjoy these ships. They are just the right size. ----

 

With customs in LA all we had time to see was the Queen Mary and that was a great. The rest of the cruise to Seattle was cold and uneventful -- we are glad to be home but, like you, we are looking toward another cruise.

 

Ron

[doone]

I have sailed the Volendam 3 times so far and find her to be one of HAL's best ships in her fleet. I have also sailed the Zuiderdam. Both ships are wonderful, but I give the edge to the Volendam. Yes, she is a bit smaller than the Vista's, but I find her to be more elegant. I think you will be very pleased with the Volendam if you choose her.

[Jimmoon]

Sorry we could not get to see you in Vegas. We were with some friends and one of our kids. You didn't miss much on the last three days of the cruise to Seattle. Everybody except Ron got off in LA. LA was a mess. They did not have enough time to do the tours as stated, and had to give most people 70% of their money back. We waited on the bus for 1 1/2 hours and finally gave up. We got off and got a full refund. The Captain apoligized to all and gave free drinks to all at dinner. It's odd, but Mexico had a better system to handle passengers than LA.

we have been hearing from the English couple Elaine and Terry. Terry has E-mailed us that his son has developed throat cancer and had to have surgery to remove it. I heard from them last week and the Doctor feels they got it all. You never know what tomorrow is going to bring.

If you are coming to Ft lauderdale in Dec., give us a call.

 

Jim & Joan

 

PS It was great meeting you guys.

[LHC]

DD and I will be on the Volendam (at the advise of Rev. Neal) for the Christmas/NYE cruise of 10 days....join us.

Linda

[Bucky3]

We sailed on the Volendam May 17-24 to Alaska. This was our second HA cruise; the first was on Oosterdam in March 2005. We loved the size of the Volendam. It was so easy to get from one end to the other - especially on those days when you have been on your feet for hours ashore! Our balcony cabin located near the aft elevators was wonderful and very quiet and in a convenient location. Full room service breakfast was great, and we were sorry we waited until the last day to try it! The food was good and service was excellent. Our cabin bathroom was quite spacious. Wish this ship would spend some time on the West Coast as we would love to sail on her again - without flying - we live in California!

[OldCodger73]

Bucky, did I miss your trip report for your Volendam cruise? I don't remember seeing it.

[sail7seas]

And I've been busy wishing Zaandam would return to the East Coast so we could sail her again. Haven't sailed her in years and would love to sail her again very soon........ ;) without flying.

[Travelbug 2]

We are booked on the Volendam for a Panama Canal repo' cruise from Vancouver to Ft Lauderdale at the end of Sept'.

 

It is great to read all the positive comments from previous Volendam pax. This will be our first time on this ship but I am sure it will not be our last. Another first for us is the Canal transit, it sounds so interesting, really looking forward to it. Sept' can't come soon enough!

[thomasale]

Love seeing anything new on this ship as it will be our first HAL cruise and I am anxiosly awaiting

[Bucky3]

I had every intention of writing a report on our May 17-24 cruise on the Volendam, but every time I tried (for several days) I got bumped off and finally gave up! I have been responding to questions mostly on the Alaska threads. Also, a gal on the cruise just before ours (cruisingici) gave such a marvelous review of their trip (and I agreed with all of it!), I think mine would have been more of a duplicate! We even had balcony cabins in the same location! Suffice it to say we absolutely loved everything about the Volendam! There were 16 of us in our group, and we didn't hear one complaint from anyone! Of our 4 trips up there, this one was the best. Of course, perhaps it was the weather (perfect), the addition of Tracy Arm on this itinerary (gorgeous), or our catamaran ride through Misty Fjords out of Ketchikan (magnificent) that we had never done before - all of this PLUS the Volendam herself made it the best! Everyone sailing this itinerary on this ship is in for a real treat!

[OldCodger73]

Bucky thanks, for a moment I thought I had had a senior moment.

 

Regarding getting bumped off the internet, I cut my teeth, so to speak, with AOL dial-up and the first thing I learned was never try to do a long post on-line. I do it in Word first then paste it into a post, that way I don't have to worry about being bumped off for inactivity.

 

Several quick Volendam questions, for a 5PM Volendam departure from Canada Place, how early can one board?

 

The brochure mentions that beds can be made up either as two twins or a queen. How where the rooms made up for your party?

 

Out of curiousity what catagory balcony cabins did you have?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Bucky3]

We had a Category B balcony cabin - #6195 - near the aft elevators. Beds were in queen configuration as we had requested. Some others in our group were on the same deck in a little higher category - didn't notice anything different in their cabins, just the location was more midship. One couple was in a lower category, outside forward cabin. They had no complaints.

 

We arrived at the pier a little before 11AM. I believe they started boarding at Noon. We had lunch in the buffet, and cabins were ready about 1PM. Our luggage arrived in the cabin shortly thereafter and we were all unpacked and organized (?) by muster drill time at 4:15.

 

Room service breakfast was great - full breakfast arrived on time and everything requested was on the tray. We didn't use this service until the last morning - wished we had done so early in the cruise!

 

The Crow's Nest Lounge is just wonderful. Be sure to find it early in the cruise - you will be glad you did. Take the forward elevators up to the Sports Deck - walk forward through the little hallways on either side of the staircase, and this lovely room will open to you! I'm writing this as some of our group said they "couldn't find it!" And I had written these directions to them too - so good luck!!!

 

Enjoy, it's a great itinerary with Tracy Arm a highlight, Glacier Bay, and Ketchikan. In Ketchikan we took the Misty Fjords catamaran boat trip and just loved it. We ended up naming the fjords area a "floating Yosemite National Park." That area was just gorgeous.

 

Have a wonderful cruise - will look for your report!

[VegasRealtor]

Hi Jim and Joan, It was great being with you on the cruise, we will difinitly contact you Dec. our e- mail address is dspugs@hotmail.com take care, Diane and Dave